


Heroes Of Alteria

by Steve_The_Visionary



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Biting, Eventual Romance, F/M, Grand Adventure, Slow Burn, mystical elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-09 12:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12888075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steve_The_Visionary/pseuds/Steve_The_Visionary
Summary: After the death of his family, young Jeeve embarks on the next chapter of his life. While on a train to Lake Shore California, Jeeve runs into to an interesting man who tells him of a land in need of his help. But how's a convenience store clerk, supposed to save the people of a mystical land? Tune in to to find out!





	1. Fates Derailed

 

The funeral was short and sweet, the repast had been carried out with love and care, but the aftermath of the home-going had left Jeeve with a dull, aching feeling in his heart. Jeeve sat forlornly at the train station, waiting for his train to Lake Shore California. His extended family had suggested it to him after the incident, then grief stricken and depressed, he hadn’t given it much thought, but now with a wee bit of rationale had decided it was a good idea.

 

His train wasn’t scheduled to arrive for another hour, so he took the time to reflect on the past week’s events. “I lost all of them . . .” His morbid mantra had did little to ease the pain he felt inside, his whole family dead and he wasn’t there to stop it. “What could I have done? tackled the __sniper?!__ ” Jeeve threw his face into his palms and sighed, to be killed on a family vacation was much more dark than it sounded.

 

His family had been planning to go to Disney World for ages, and being the lazy millennial he was he hadn’t put in for the time off in advance. So he begrudgingly said farewell to his parents and sister as they drove off to to the wondrous resort without him, he had no idea he’d be saying his final farewells to them.

 

A deranged gunman had somehow smuggled automatic weapons into the theme park and had opened fire on the patrons. His family had been separated during the commotion and each one met a different fate. His father had taken a bullet to the head, the doctor assured him that the trajectory combined with where the bullet landed made for a quick and painless death. It made Jeeve rest a little easier at night knowing that, but his mother and sister’s deaths would continue to haunt his dreams for many years to come. His mother and been trampled to death while looking for his sister. The stampede had left her so disfigured that he had to close the casket for the funeral. His sister had died just as terribly as her parents, she got caught up in the swing of the crowd that she was pushed off a railing and fell 40 feet to the ground. Her casket was also closed for the funeral.

Jeeve felt bile coming up in back of his throat and reluctantly swallowed it. The last thing he needed was to lose his lunch in a dingy old subway. Jeeve felt his anxiety getting to him, so he made the wise decision to continue in the book he was reading  

 

Jeeve sat up and reached for his bag, pulling out a leather bound book and began to flip through it.

He had found it while cleaning out his parents attic, the best way to describe the book was . . . Strange and that was putting it lightly. The book was about . . . __Animals?__ Or at least he thought it was. There was apparently some ruling order of animals who oppressed and controlled the others. At first Jeeve thought it was some journal that his grandpa kept, but the more he read on, the more the story seemed to jump off the pages. Though if he had to be critical, he would complain of how slow the story seemed to be. He had read into at least 100 pages and no major characters had been introduced, just the omnipresent evil force that kept the people in bondage. Even with the endless amount of pages left, it just seemed like the story wasn’t finished.

Jeeve continued to spill through the pages of his unnamed novel when his reading was interrupted by a homeless man begging for money. __“Please sir! I haven’t eaten in days! I need a dollar just a dollar please?!”__ Jeeve let a sympathetic smile form on his face, he had always had a soft spot for the impoverished. Jeeve reached into his wallet and pulled out a 20 dollar bill giving it to the man with gusto.

__“Thank you sir! Thank you so much! I could never repay you for this!”__  

“As long as you get a good meal, That’s enough for me.” The old homeless man hobbled away with a smile on his face, leaving Jeeve alone to himself to ponder the encounter. “I feel like there was more to that old man than what he led on . . .” Jeeve would have continued to ponder, but his train had arrived 45 minutes early, so he grabbed his duffel bag and began to board the train. Jeeve took an exaggerated look around the boxcar and sighed, of course he would be on a train by himself. It just seemed so fitting that a depressed individual would be on an isolated trip by themselves.

Jeeve took his seat to the nearest window seat and began to rest. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had gotten a good night’s rest, it honestly felt like ages to him. The train began its rocky acceleration westward, causing Jeeve’s book to fall out of his lap and slide across the floor. “Here you go pal. _ _”__ Jeeve reached for his book absentmindedly before jerking his hand away from the man before him. Stuttering nervously Jeeve asked “W-Where did you come from? There was no one here a minute ago!”

The man smiled and replied “Well a minute is quite along time wouldn’t you agree? Say I didn’t know you were into history books.” Jeeve gave the man a long look before snatching his book back. It was odd but he had to say this man cleaned up nicely. The man was clean shaven with slicked back hair, and wearing a crisp, black three piece suit. The watch on his left wrist was one of the most exquisite things Jeeve had ever seen, the thought of this man being an illusion ran rampantly through his mind.

“Amazing what 20 dollars can do for you isn’t it?” Jeeve opened his eyes and mouth wide and screamed “THERE’S NO WAY YOU’RE THE HOMELESS MAN I JUST HELPED!” The well dressed man chuckled loudly before replying

 

“Well I am and I’m also not him, It’s a very complex situation, but that’s not why I’m here my friend oh no!”

 

“Uh then why are you here?” Jeeve’s mind began to come up with all kinds of weird and outlandish scenarios. “Oh my God! Am I dead? I died didn’t I?! And right now we’re on a train to the afterlife! No No! Maybe you’re a government agent here to recruit me to avenge the death of my family?”

The man again laughed at Jeeve’s ignorance and replied “Well I’m not here to recruit you but I can tell you you aren’t going California anytime soon.”

 

“And why not?”

 

“Because you’re needed elsewhere, and that’s all I’m going to say.” Jeeve couldn’t believe his ears, __he was needed elsewhere__! “What does that even mean? Are you saying I gotta go do something else?”

 

“There are those out there who are in desperate need of your help.”

 

“Me?! Help people? Sir no offense but I think you’re off your rocker. I couldn’t even help my . . . “ Jeeve paused mid sentence and really took a good look around the train car before continuing. “You know what? Why don’t you level with me for a sec? What’s really going on here? Because I have a feeling I’m indeed not on a train to California.”

 

“The man sighed and said “You Jeeve have a gift. You just don’t know it yet.”

 

“Okay well that’s just cheeky isn’t it! Well I guess I’m going to embark on some grand adventure to find the meaning of life then! Thanks mysterious old man who’s supposed to be my guide!” The old man’s smile had vanished and was replaced with a look of sadness. “ I get it, believe it or not I really do get how you feel right now. But there are people right now suffering, people who are searching for a hero.”

 

Jeeve shot the man an angry look and shouted “WHAT HERO!? I’M NOT A HERO! I’m a clerk at a convenience store, I’m a part time college student, I’m just a regular guy. I don’t even know who’re you’re talking about?!”

 

“The people of Alteria are looking for their hero.” Jeeve’s face contorted in confusion “Wait what do you mean __Alteria?”__ The man’s smile returned with a newfound gusto “Alteria is the name of the world that’s in dire need of your assistance. Though you should know all about it, you’ve been reading the history of our land for quite some time now.” Jeeve gave the man a suspicious look, then quickly began flipping through the strange novel. Sure enough the name Alteria came up multiple times, along with descriptions of flying machines and advanced civilizations. Jeeve quickly dropped the book and shuddered “Who on earth are you?”

 

The man’s smile left, and he was instantly swallowed in a bright light. When the light faded, the man was no longer in a sleek black suit, but a more fitting white garb, with a nicely accented cape to boot. “I am no one on earth, but on Alteria I am a messenger. My duty was to come and deliver unto you a message.” Jeeve confusion only grew more and more “My head is in all kinds of pain right now. Okay let’s take this thing one step at a time. Even if all these things you’re telling me are true, how on earth would I even get to this magical land called __Alteria__?”

 

“Go to sleep.” That simple reply from the messenger just added to the confusion he was experiencing. Frustrated, Jeeve stood up and turned away from the messenger. “This can’t be real. I probably got mugged and am now lying in a ditch somewhere unconscious! Yea that’s it! I did take the back streets on my way here, so I probably got roughed up by the neighborhood guys.” Jeeve turned around to see the man gone, leaving him more frightened than relieved.

 

 

Jeeve sat back in the chair and began massage his aching temples. “Nothing makes sense anymore . . . “

“I don’t know whether to be frightened or glad that he’s gone. Though I do know I’m taking a nap.” He let out a desperate yawn and began to recline in the rigid chair. “I know I’m going to regret falling asleep, but God am I tired.” Jeeve relaxed, letting his eyes close and fell asleep to the rhythmic rocking of the rickety old train.


	2. Tourist Trap

 

“Welcome fine mammals of Kiren! Welcome to the Alterian Museum of Natural History! I am your host and tour guide Kenneth B. Snapsworth!” The group on the tour was comprised of animals large and small, everything from Rhinos to moles had come out to catch a fleeting glimpse of the new exhibit.

Kenneth, the energetic fox, began ushering the group into the next room. “This here fine folks is the ‘Prewar Society Exhibit!” The tour group let out collective ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ at the room. The room was filled with antiquated technology, everything from early TV’s to airplanes had some sort of display in the room.

The tourists began snapping photos greedily at the archaic items. “This room here is filled with treasures from the distant past. The animals of yesterday led simpler lives, so in turn required simpler tools.” The group continued their photographic assault on the artifacts, completely ignoring Kenneth and his theatrics. Kenneth smiled tiredly then leaned against a display case in a relaxed manner. This group was much more independent than the last one. He hadn’t been asked one question since the tour had started! “um . . Excuse me sir?” Kenneth smirked and thought __“Well it was nice while it lasted.”__ Thought Kenneth as he turned to face who addressed him. Kenneth looked down and noticed the child. She was a small feline of about 9 or 10 years old wearing a __‘I heart books’__ T-shirt. __“Adorable!”__ Thought Kenneth as he readied himself to answer her question.

“Well well little girly! Doth thou have an inquiry for me?” The feline child nodded vigorously saying “My name is Selena and I love history!” Kenneth lazily rolled his eyes at her and replied “Well isn’t that cute? Though do you have questions about the tour?” The little girl took on a thoughtful look, then giddily snapped her fingers and said “PATRIARCHS!” The fox jumped back from her startled asking “I beg your pardon?” The girl smoothed the wrinkles out of her shirt and said “I want to see the Court of the Patriarchs!”

Kenneth looked at her with a look of confusion. He had no idea how this kid would know of an exhibit not yet open, but that was a thought. __“Take them to the court?”__ Kenneth thought as he weighed his options. He could simply ignore the girl’s request and continue the tour as planned , ****OR**** he could cut the tour short and take them to the never before seen exhibit. Taking them to the exhibit had its risks. He could get caught and possibly lose his job, but . . . If he took them there he could make a fortune on tips. The tourists would be practically throwing money at him. Kenneth shook his head and told himself “Get a grip Snapsworth! The choice is obvious!” The fox readjusted his tie and boisterously announced “ATTENTION PATRONS! I am cutting today’s tour short today, sorry for any inconveniences caused by this.” The group of mammals shared confused looks and angry comments, before Kenneth interjected. “Because . . . . We’re going to the Never before seen Court of The Patriarchs! Just don’t tell my boss alright?”

The groups’s ill feelings quickly dissipated and were replaced with curious murmurs and excited chatterings. “Follow me good patrons!” Kenneth led the group to a large door, beautifully decorated with gems, rubies, and gold alike. “As you can tell by this lavish door, everything in this room was donated by his honor Kyoto Kitsune of the Blood Bourne Clan. The group echoed another chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ at the mention of Kyoto. No one truly knows who Kyoto is. It’s a common belief that he’s the illustrious leader of the Blood Bourne Clan, though none can now for sure. The Blood Bourne Clan had seized control of Alteria decades ago with Kyoto leading them. The takeover had been a shock too all, but the populace did little to fight it, save for the few rebellious cells. Kyoto’s image shifted from one of a brute and barbarian to a benevolent and kind ruler.

Kenneth opened the ornate door and revealed a beautifully recreated town square. The square had real tiles excavated from ancient ruins in the southern region. The room was bathed in soft, natural light which accented the main attraction in the center of the square. “And here I behold to unto thee . . . The Weapons of the Patriarchs!” The group quickly surrounded the cased weapons and began fervently taking pictures.

“These weapons are at least a thousand years old. Forged from materials unknown to mammal kind. Each weapon is physically indestructible and impervious to most manners of scientific probing.” The group practically ignored the history lesson and continued frantically taking photos. “Each weapon belonged to an elite warrior, though nothing substantial is known about the warriors. All we have to go off of are old wives’ tales and urban legends.” Kenneth walked over to an encased broadsword and tapped his claws against the display. “Attention folks! Attention!” I that instant, the __claymore, nunchucks, and__ gold tipped __spear__ was forgotten as the animals rushed over to the broadsword. “This here weapon is the only one scientists have any concrete information about.”

“The weapon was discovered over a year ago, deep within the Angorri Mines. The excavation team couldn’t remove the weapon the weapon from the stone, so they had to bring it here and make it part of the display. See for yourselves.” The tourists looked and examined the elaborate display. The other three weapons were glued onto the stone, but the broadsword itself was lodged deeply within the rock. “If you look closely you can see ancient markings on the weapon. Scientists weren’t able to determine anything significant about the markings, so that’s another mystery not getting solved.”

One tourist, an otter of all things, raised his paw meekly. “Well what about the legend? Kenneth, not missing a beat replied “Well what about it?” “Legend has it that after a thousand year slumber, the weapon will reawaken and return to its master!” The group began murmuring to themselves saying things like __“Is that true?” “I heard the sword glows green!” “Will the hero come and come free us!?” “of course the hero will free us! He’ll also rebuild Alteria!”__ More and more mutinous conversations rose, much to the tour fox’s displeasure.Hearing the different questions, comments, and concerns made Kenneth very unsettled. Speaking out against the government was strictly prohibited in Kiren. If the surveillance tapes picked this up, he’d not only be out of a job, but also in prison! Kenneth darted his eyes back and forth then yelled “Animals of Kiren! Listen to yourselves! Getting worked up over a display!” Kenneth quickly chose his next words wisely as to not incite an angry mob. “All of this is ****FAKE!**** The weapons, the court, the artifacts; ALL FAKE!” The group settled down into hurt silence and let the fox continue. “That legend about the sword was . . . Used to generate consumer interest! __(Yea real Smooth Kenneth!).”__ Though even as Kenneth tried to reassure them it was all a hoax, animals kept coming up with rebuttals.

The arguing continued relentlessly until a sharp, ear-piercing noise began rattling everyone’s ears. “BLOODY HELL! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!” Kenneth screamed as he writhed in pain. His only response was the cries of agony from the group. The noise got sharper and sharper causing more and more pain until . . . It stopped. Everyone remained deathly still as if they were afraid their movements would trigger the ghastly noise.

Kenneth rolled onto his stomach wincing in pain as he stood to his feet. “Is everyone alright? His question was met with a plethora of grunts and groans as other patrons stood to their wobbly feet. Kenneth looked around the exhibit, accessing the room for damage. Everything seemed fine until he saw the broadsword. It was absolutely, positively green! Glowing a steady, bright, lime green! The fox was speechless and it seemed like the entire group was as well. Everyone gingerly approached the glowing, encased weapon in awe. There was something . . . __Comforting__ about that light, so they came closer. Brave animals lifted their paws to touch the display case, but then it happened. Without warning and with intense ferocity, the sword let out a powerful, green shock wave, which broke glass, destroyed artifacts, and sent the tourists flying backwards.

Everyone looked upon the weapon in astonishment for it hovered in the air menacingly as if waiting for some poor fool to move. The weapon’s glow got brighter and brighter until . . . ‘ZOOM!’ The group looked up and saw a sight like no other. The weapon was barreling upwards at unimaginable speeds, causing eyestrain as they tried to follow it. The sword crashed through the ceiling, causing dangerously large shards of glass to rain down on the tourists.

Once again the room became still. The animals were absolutely petrified. The thought of more horrid noise, or deathly shock waves frightened them to no end. Kenneth sighed and shakily stood to his feet, though he was immediately regretted his decision. Before lay absolute carnage. The weapon had totalled the entire court. Rubble, glass, and injured animals were strewn about. Kenneth called out to the group again, only to receive more grunts and groans in response. Kenneth looked up at the ceiling and shuddered at the damage. The once beautiful stained glass display was now riddled with large holes. Kenneth tilted his head and examined the damage. “ Hmm, looks like it spells . . . __Ethos?__ What the hell is and __Ethos?”__ Little did Kenneth know, he and all of Alteria were about to find out.     


	3. Escape from Kiren

 

“AHHH!” Jeeve screamed as he hurtled forward. He began frantically scanning the area for danger, only to find . . . His family. “Whoa weirdo! All Dad asked was if you wanted your picture taken with Mickey Mouse.” Jeeve turned to his sister and almost threw up. There was no way this was Amy, it just couldn’t be! “I-I . . . Uh ….” Was all he could say as his father turned around, smile and all and said “What’s the matter a sport? You afraid of Ole’ M. Mouse?” His mother chuckled “Well honey give him a break. You do remember the _incident_ right?” The entire car bursted into spontaneous laughter except Jeeve. “I-I thought I lost you!”

The laughter in the car quickly subsided and was replaced with eerie silence. Jeeve picked up on the tension in the car and cringed, something wasn’t right. “I got the time off from work right?”No response. “We’re going to Disney land right?” __No response.__ “You guys are __alive__ right?” Still no response. Jeeve looked out the car window and gasped. The previously beautiful day was gone and in its place was hellish night. The sky was pitch black, and Jeeve could see rotting corpses litter the ground as his father drove by. He witnessed fire rain down from the sky and scorch the ground and corpses. Jeeve couldn’t lift his eyes from the scene until what appeared to be a fleshless person latch onto the window and screech at him.

“AAAHHH!! WHERE THE HELL AM I!?” Jeeve screamed as the deathly creature continued assaulting the window. His father turned around and scarily whispered “ _ _our own personal hell . . .”__ Jeeve looked upon the creature and wanted to vomit. This imitation of his father had its face bloodied and eyes missing. Jeeve looked around and saw his mother and sister with twisted, bent, disfigured, and bleeding faces. Their demonic gazes piercing his own, practically daring him to stare at their horridness. Jeeve began to bat them away screaming “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!”

****“TO WAKE UP!”** **

“GAHH!” Jeeve leapt up with fright and began swinging away at his imaginary foes. He sighed, falling to his knees utterly exhausted. Never before had he experienced something so . . . __surreal.__  “Jesus Christ! I though I’d have a heart attack! Wait what __the?!__  Jeeve noticed three things wrong with his current situation. One was probably the most obvious . . . __Where in the world was he?!__ He spun around several times surveying the area, and each spin made him more and more confused. There was no train station, no train, absolutely no tracks! In fact he was standing on top a grassy hill without any noticeable landmarks around him, save for what appeared to be a town below.

Second and probably the strangest was this mysterious sword. When he came to, the damn thing was in his hands. In a spur of panic he threw the weapon as far as he could, desperate to get it away from him, but it was all for naught. Right at the apex of his throw, the weapon came careening back toward him and flew right into his hand. He tried over and over again, in hopes of the sword not returning, but the blade was too faithful. It returned after every throw as if it were a game. “What are you?” He began scanning the weapon for a name, model number, manufacturer, or anything to identify the thing. Jeeve looked at the markings on the hilt and strangely recognized them. “ _ _Ethos?__ Is that your name or something?” The sword flashed a bright green then gave soft vibration in response. So it was settled, the duo had been born, Jeeve and Ethos! A boy and sword! Not a finer duo for miles around, though there was still the last issue . . . Where did this little pup come from?

He had no idea how he had missed it before, but now the little furball sat right in front of him, yipping excitedly. “Uh . . Nice __doggy?”__ The pup growled at him, causing Jeeve to shrug his shoulders. “What?! Don’t like __doggy?”__ The little pup barked back. “You’re a scrappy little thing huh? Come here!” Jeeve knelt down with outstretched arms and allowed the pup to scramble up into his grasp. “Say what are you? You kinda look like a wolf.” The wolf pup yipped happily and began licking Jeeve’s face. “Ha Ha! Okay stop! I get it! So you’re a little wolf pup eh? Well what’s your name?” The pup rolled over and revealed her underside to Jeeve. While her entire body was a smoke colored gray except her underside which was all white, save for a gray patch of fur in the shape of a clover. “Ah I see. Clover it is!” Jeeve began playfully scratching her belly, soliciting a yawn from Clover.

Jeeve continued his scratching until loud sounds and rising smoke came from the nearby town. Jeeve quickly darted for his bag and began sifting through it. “Ah Ha! I got ya, now let’s take a look see.” Jeeve pressed the binoculars firmly to his face and readjusted the focus knob. He carefully scanned the city and found another major roadblock . . . Walking and Talking animals. He shook his head and frowned. Jeeve knew the sight should’ve surprised him, but he wasn’t in the least bit fazed. Though he knew this would pose a serious problem. Jeeve turned to his new companion asking “What do you think Clover? How am I supposed to get inside?”

Clover rolled onto her back and began wagging her back and began wagging her tail. Jeeve rolled his eyes and rubbed her belly. She yipped and sprang past Jeeve, leaping into his duffel bag. “Hey! Get outta there you heathen!” Clover poked her head out, then quickly dove back inside, tossing his clothes out as she squirmed in the bag. Jeeve tapped his foot impatiently as more of his clothes flew from the bag. Suddenly the torrent of clothes stopped and Clover hopped out the bag with something in tow.

She brought the article of clothing to Jeeve and he cringed at the sight of it. “Oh no . . . There’s no actual way I packed this!” In her maw was a long black cloak, the same cloak Jeeve used to wear during his cringey grunge phase. He didn’t remember packing it, but he was glad Clover had found it. The cloak was black, long, tastless, but perfect. Jeeve took the cloak and slipped it on, making sure to conceal his face and skin. Jeeve looked to the city and huffed. He had no idea what he was going to do there but he knew he had to go. “You ready to start hiking furball?” The wolf pup responded with an enthusiastic bark and sprang into Jeeve’s arms again. After another belly rub, Jeeve repacked his duffel bag and set off on his way.

Kiren was often called the __‘Jewel of Alteria’__ for its extravagant architecture and high end shops. It seemed only the wealthiest of mammals could live comfortably here because the divide from rich to poor was evident as soon as Jeeve stepped within city limits. “Oh God . . . Have mercy.” Was all he the hero could mutter as he walked the poverty stricken district. Just like the corpses in his nightmare, some drunk, some dead, and others lost in between the two. Jeeve grew up in one of New York’s __‘lower income areas’__ but he had never seen or experienced something of this caliber. __“How can they live like this?”__  He whispered to Clover while trying to hold back a tear. If Clover heard him she sure didn’t act like it. Clover kept a neutral face, giving no response or indication that she had even heard him. The duo silently made their way through the district until a drunken fox, furiously grabbed ahold of Jeeve crying “Angorri! Angorri! He flys there next! Angorri Oh the ancient mines will spark the rebellion!” “Get off me you lunatic!” After a little struggle, Jeeve managed to pull the clingy fox from, and with a shove, sent the fool stumbling down the street.

The duo walked down the impoverished district for a few minutes more until Jeeve asked “Well I lost track of the fire and smoke and. I’m totally kaput out of ideas. Clover you got to know this place! Where to next?” The tiny pup started pacing back and forth until she barked and took off running away from Jeeve. “Hey Get Back Here!” Jeeve quickly scurried after her, hoping she had not gotten too far. After a few twists, turns, and pass through an alley, Clover stopped and began to scratch her ear. “You’re a fast little pup.” Jeeve stepped pass her, carefully making his way to the alley exit, where he saw the most incredible sights. Futuristic buildings, hovercrafts, holographic projections! “Whoa! I actually can’t believe it! I must’ve died and gone to tech heaven!” Technologies one could only imagine completely littered this side of town.

Jeeve continued his marveling, until a holographic video of a lynx, started talking. __“Welcome One ,Welcome All to Kiren!”__  The excited lynx said. “ _ _Home of Art, fashion, and innovation. We Kirens strive to make guests feel right at home with our wonderful hospitality and bountiful amounts of things to see and do. If you get a chance please visit the Alterian Museum of Natural History. The museum is 4000 square feet of beauty just waiting to be explored. And if you do so choose to stop by, the newly built exhibit is one that does not disappoint. ‘The Court of The Patriarchs’ is a newly opened exhibit to showcase the recently excavated ‘Weapons of The Patriarchs.’__ The holographic video suddenly shifted to a beautiful still of four vibrant weapons. The double edged spear was cool, the nun chucks unexpected, the claymore positively huge! Though the green broadsword caught Jeeve’s attention for it looked exactly like Ethos. He casted a worry filled glance to his weapon saying “I have a feeling you’re going to cause all kinds of trouble for me.” “HEY WATCH THE EARS!”

Jeeve looked across the street to immediately spotting two male wolves pushing and shoving a female rabbit. Jeeve’s grip tightened on Ethos as he said “Not even ten minutes here . . . Let’s hope this ends peacefully.” Two wolves, both respected members of the Alterian Army, were Commander Faze and lieutenant Faux. They had served the army for 24 and 16 years respectfully and generally had an easy time. Until she came along . . . “Fellas, fellas. Let’s not be brutes, after all a bunny’s gotta eat too right?” Commander Faze growled menacingly and replied “I don’t think you realize the gravity of your situation. Do you know where we’re going to take you?”

 

“Hmm . . . I’m going to take a wild guess and say Kiren’s Central Detention Facility? You know . . Where all us __degenerates__ go.” For the first time that day Faze let out a smile “Oh no! You see we learned from the last time we stuck you in there. I have just gotten word from  the Kydon detention center that my transfer request was approved. . .” The rabbit’s confident smile fell for a second and was replaced with a worried gaze. “Oh wow! You went through all that trouble to get little ole’ me approved for death row? I’m actually flattered!” Faze yanked on her ears, bringing her face level with his “You may hold that confident countenance now, but come tomorrow morning you’ll be writhing in pain and begging for mercy . . .” Jeeve quickly ran over to the trio and tried his best to sound authoritative “HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” Faze looked to his left and right in a confused stupor before he realized it was Jeeve who was addressing him. Jeeve removed his cloak and stared the wolf down “I’ll give you one more chance. . . Let her go or there’ll be hell to pay.” The commander and his lieutenant laughed incredulously at Jeeve “Listen pup. You caught me in a very jovial mood today, so I’m going to let you off with a warning.” Jeeve dropped his bag and began stretching “Okay pal, this is going to go down either two ways. One you let her go and we all go about our merry way or Two things get . . . __physical.__ ”

The commander gave Jeeve another look of disbelief before saying “Lieutenant Faux! Hold my prize . . . ****This shouldn’t take long.**** ” Faze pulled out his weapon of choice; A mark III laser guided pistol.

 

“Now I suggest turning tail, because there is no turning back once this trigger is pulled. This is your ****final warning.**** ”

 

“If you’re not standing down, than neither am I.”

 

“ . . . Very well then.”

 

And with that the trigger was pulled. Jeeve had always heard people talk about seeing their life flash before their eyes, but this was the first time he saw his. It seemed as if everything was in slow motion, the bullet or rather laser beam, was hurtling unnaturally slow toward him as if taunting him with his certain demise. Jeeve continued to watch the slow moving beam until he realized something . . . He wasn’t stuck in slow motion! __“What the hell is this?! It’s like . . . The Matrix!”__  Jeeve side stepped and let the bullet crawl past him, it was a feeling like no other. Jeeve looked over to Faze and noticed that he too was almost frozen in time, the wolf commander still had that condescending look on his face, but boy was he about to get a wake up call. Jeeve continued screwing around in his little time bubble until Ethos began glowing and vibrating violently __“What’s the matter? You bored or something?”__ Jeeve grabbed the weapon and was immediately pulled out of the time field and was plopped right back in real time.

 

No time at all had passed for the wolf commander. His shot was perfect! Between pulling the trigger, the round’s trajectory, and the close proximity of his target, the kill was pup’s play. Then why had he missed? Standing right in front of him was the insolent brat, the brat who dared to question his authority, the brat . . . __HADN’T DIED!__

Faze looked at Jeeve in disbelief and cried “HOW?! What manner of witchcraft is this?! You should’ve died a terrible death, but you stand before me perfectly unharmed!”

“Well I suppose I’m just lucky.”

Faze aimed the weapon once more at him and said “You think you’re special? You think you have some gift or __purpose?__ Well let me educate you on something boy. . . __There are no heroes.”__ Faze fired again and this time so did Faux. Jeeve watched as the bullets made their slow charge for him and laughed. He didn’t know what or why this was happening, but he knew it was cool! Jeeve began swinging Ethos around like the characters in his favorite Sci-Fi movies, and came into another surprise as he accidentally nicked the laser beams. . . They went flying in the opposite direction! Jeeve watched in unbelief as the beams hurtled back toward their origins and the wolves fell to the ground.

Jeeve ran to the two downed wolves and cringed; both of them had gaping holes where their faces used to be. The blood started as a slow leak, then began gushing out as time sped back up for Jeeve. “Oh God I-I’ve Killed somebody!!”

“Nah don’t sweat it. These two had it coming for a long time and besides . . . You did this rabbit a huge favor.” Jeeve watched in unbelief as the cream colored rabbit began looting the dead bodies, taking out what appeared to be money and taking their weapons.

 

“What!? What are you doing!”

 

“What does it look like? I’m __stealing__ their belongings.”

 

“Wha-!? Why?!”

 

“Because One, I’m a thief and Two . . . Corpses don’t really have a need for security cards or money now do they?” Now Jeeve was at a lost for words. . . . He had just saved a thieving rabbit! The rabbit pocketed her stolen belongings, extended her paw and said “The name’s Spitfire, Shirlene Spitfire. Ace pilot and world renowned thief!” Jeeve shook his head, but extended his hand also “Uh . . Jeeve Javari and . . . Well you should probably look for yourself.” Jeeve dropped his hood and revealed his face to Shirlene. The rabbit flashed a surprised look, then quickly collected herself and said “Kid. I’ve seen a lot of weird things in this world, and you are by far the strangest __creature__ I’ve ever seen. You might want to get lost quick, fast, and in a hurry because once the others get back from patrol and see their commander down . . . Oh wow I can just imagine what they’ll do to you. One you’re an alien so there’s that. . .Experiments and junk. Two! You have the stolen sword from the museum, so there you go. And my favorite three . . . you kinda killed the highest ranking military official for like 30 klicks. So there you go, got some criminal charges on your ass.” Jeeve suddenly felt very sick. The thought of being experimented, thrown in prison, or even worse . . __executed__ frightened the young here to no end. “Please Shirlene, I know we just met and all but I can’t get caught! Can you get me outta here please?!”

Shirlene shook her thinking about the situation __“It can’t actually be this easy?!”__ She rubbed her paws together and said “Alright kid, you’ve touched my hardened heart with your pleas, but if I’m going to take you in . . .You’re going to have to help me get outta this place.”

 

“How can I help?”

 

“Well the fact that you’re kinda like a god helps.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Oh come on! You know what I’m talking about! You killed those two assholes with that sword! Now I’m not one for mysticism, but I know what I saw! You can actually block laser beams!”

 

“I guess, but how does that help?” Shirlene smiled devilishly saying “Oh well my ship kinda got impounded and to get it back we’re going to need to break into the impound facility.”

 

“Sounds dangerous . . . “

 

“Oh trust me it is! Now first things first. To even get there, we’ll need a ride, so I’m going to go rewire that hovercraft and you’re going to stand watch. Think you can handle it chief?”

Jeeve smirked saying “I’ll have you know that nothing escapes my eyes.” Shirlene gave a lazy salute and ran across the street and began her work, while Jeeve took his post and started surveying the area. Jeeve looked to his side and noticed that Clover was there and resting against his leg peacefully. “How can you sleep in a time like this?” Clover yawned in response then rolled over and continued napping. Jeeve smiled then redirected his attention to crowd yelling and shouting from across the street. The crowd was screaming and throwing things in his direction. Jeeve backed up nervously and said “Uh Shirlene?”

 

“What’s up E.T.?”

 

“There’s a crowd gathering across the street and they don’t look happy about the two wolves from earlier.”

 

“Well that was to be expected. I mean like Faze and Faux were local legends here.”  

  

“Well now they have weapons and they’re aiming them at us!”

 

“Alright! Alright! Give me a second kid. Sheesh so impatient.” The crowd continued their unruly behavior, menacingly marching toward the trio. “Alright Jeeve it’s now or never, once I drop this wire this baby’s going from zero to sixty in no time flat. So . . . Hop on!” Grabbing his bag and Clover, Jeeve jumped on the hovercraft., and grabbed on as the vehicle accelerated down the road. Shirlene began shouting gleefully as she knocked over pedestrians and trash cans. “So my fine furless friend what’s your story? Get sucked into a wormhole, Blown up by space pirates, oooh! I know! You came from another dimension to spread your alien seed in animal wombs!” Jeeve gagged and said “Are you insane!? I-I don’t even know how I got here and I’m definitively not here to __spread my alien seed__ around.”

 

“Sorry not sorry! So . . . What’s a tall dark alien like you doing on a god forsaken world like this?”

 

“I-I actually don’t know . . “

 

“Nah don’t sweat it. Every lowly bottom feeder, degenerate, and cretin has a purpose on Alteria! Whether it be to do great things . . . Or perpetuate the poverty statistic, We all have to play our part.”

 

“Wow . . . Thanks __I guess.”__ The trio rode in silence for a bit until Jeeve felt a rush of wind and heard a whizzing noise. “Hey What was that!?” Shirlene looked over her shoulder and casually replied “Oh it’s nothing, Just the Kiren Guard using laser artillery.”

 

“LASER ARTILLERY!?”

 

“Yea. Pretty sure that’s what I said.”

 

“How can you be so calm!?”

 

“Because I have something they don’t.”

 

“Wha-?!”

 

“I have a very special friend who can smack laser beams like a bitch in heat.” Jeeve looked back and noticed the guard’s convoy getting closer and closer. Jeeve shakily stood up and readied himself for the next volley. Shirlene made a hard swerve right and cursed as she tried controlling the vehicle. “Okay pal got good news and bad news.”

“What’s the good news?”

 

“Good news is the facility is literally straight ahead.”

 

“Wow that’s not so bad! What’s the bad news?”

 

“Bad news is this puppy’s engine block is shot.”

 

“Okay . . . So that means we’ll just have to walk the rest of the way right?” Shirlene laughed rudely saying “Oh that’s rich! __Walk the rest of the way!__ Yea pal that ain’t happening. This rig is going it explode as soon as it maxes out speed.”

 

“WHAT?! HOW LONG DO WE HAVE?!”

 

“Uh ten?”

 

“TEN WHAT!? TEN WHAT!?”

 

“I know this one! It’s either ten seconds from when it reaches max speed or ten minutes. Though I can’t be certain.” Jeeve face palmed and resumed blocking the laser rounds. The hovercraft made a sickening crunch noise and began smoking. Jeeve coughed and said “Are you trying to make this thing explode?!”

 

“Well that is the plan, just need to get in position.”

 

“How close are we?”

 

“We already here. You see those animals lining up the huge weapon?”

 

“Uh . . . yea?”

 

“Welp right under them is the bay door. Have to do is drive straight into it. Easy right?”

Jeeve didn’t answer and instead grabbed his bag and Clover. “Sorry I have to do this, but You’re going to need to go in the bag.” Clover nodded and hopped into his duffel bag, right as he hauled it on his back. Shirlene pressed some more buttons and slashed some wires “Alright Jeeve, she’s rigged to explode on contact Soooooo . . . Time to jump.” The hovercraft barreled uncontrollably toward the bay door, leaving a split second for the two to jump off of it and to safety. The duo watched as the vehicle careened into the door instantly igniting the door and it’s guards in fearsome flames. Shirlene wasted no time and dashed for the entrance leaving Jeeve to awkwardly shuffle behind her.

   

Once inside Shirlene began frantically scanning the room, scanning as if each second was her last. She ran down aisle after aisle of impounded ships, desperately searching for hers before she sighed in relief. “Oh . . Thank the stars! Hey alien! I found my ride, so you might wanna hurry up before I change my mind about keeping you.” Taking the hint, Jeeve quickly scurried after her and boarded the ship. As he ran inside he took note of the ship’s exterior and . . . He found it very underwhelming. From his many hours spent watching space movies he could immediately tell this ship was a freighter of some kind and boy was it in bad shape. Dents, almost mistakable for craters, littered the ships body. The ship itself was a putrid grayish green mixture, with weird out of place white streaks along the sides. The ship lacked wings like a traditional airplane, and instead had these large trapezoidal parts sticking from the main body. Each trapezoidal wing also had a large tri-pronged propeller inside. Needless to say, he was very worried about it’s ability to get off the ground.

Once inside Jeeve followed Shirlene to the ship’s bridge, where she began briefing Jeeve on the next complication “Okay. So I realize today has probably been a very weird and strange day am I right?”

 

“More than you realize.”

 

“And I know you’re probably tired after blocking countless laser bolts. Look I get it, but we’re far from safety and closer to death than you know it.”

 

“Uh . .”

 

“You’re probably wondering why I was so eager to let you tag along.”

 

“I’m guessing it’s because of my abilities.”

 

“Well you’d be guessing right. You see Kiren is not the __beautiful, art rich__ country the media wants you to think. It’s really a huge prison, once you’re in there’s no getting out.”

 

“Okay that’s sounds awful, but how do we get out?”

 

“I’m glad you asked. Now pay attention!” Shirlene pressed a button on her computer’s console and a holographic image of an ocean appeared. “Okay look here. You see that tower right there?” Jeeve squinted his eyes then nodded saying . . “Yea I see it. Why’s it important?”

 

“Well on that tower is the K4 ARK. A cannon that shoots a ship disabling beam. If this ship is hit with that beam, it’ll fall right into the Kiren ocean where we’ll all drown.”

 

“Oh and I’m guessing you want me to deflect that beam?”

 

“Well if it isn’t too much trouble! I really don’t want to impose . . . OF COURSE I WANT YOU TO DEFLECT IT! Though no pressure.” Jeeve gulped nervously and replied “Are you sure there’s no other way we can avoid it? Can’t you like __do a barrel roll__  out the way or something?” Shirlene smacked Jeeve’s arm and said “What are you? Some kind of __stupid?__  That beam locks on to ships. Once it fires, it’s all up to you, but don’t worry. I have the utmost faith and confidence in you!”

 

“Really?! Even though we just met?”

 

“Oh that’s right! We did just meet. Nevermind then. I have no faith in you whatsoever. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go prepare my last meal.”

 

“Wait?! How am I supposed to block the beam from inside the ship?!” Shirlene looked at Jeeve, then laughed incredulously at his question “Oh that is rich! __Inside of the ship!__  Oh wow. I had no idea your kind were comedians!” Shirlene laughed again and started speaking in an overly patronizing voice “You __Do__ know that you’re going to have to be on the __outside__ of the ship right?”

 

“Well I guess I know now.”

 

“Great! Now hop to it, while I get us ready to bounce.” Jeeve left the bridge and made his way toward a ladder leading to the top of the ship. As Jeeve began to climb, he felt a tug on his pants and looked down “Sorry Clover, but this is super dangerous and I kinda have to do this alone.” Clover whined understandingly and let go as Jeeve started climbing again. Once Jeeve got outside, he realized the error of their ways. “Uh . . . Shirlene?”

 

“Now what?!”

 

“Well we’re still in the hangar and there’s soldiers surrounding us!”

 

“Calm down. Don’t get your boxers in a bunch. I just gotta rewire this and . . . Bingo! The C Wing is back in business!” Jeeve opened his mouth to reply but was instantly silenced by the loud roar of the ship. The C wing puttered and sputtered before it sprang to life, surprising both Shirlene and Jeeve. “YEA BABY!! SHE’S ALIVE!” Shirlene cried as she pulled up on the control stick. The ship began to hover in midair, then without warning . . . Shot into the sky like a rocket. Jeeve held on to the railing desperately as Shirlene apologized. “Sorry kid. I got a little excited there, but back to business. The watchtower is about 70 klicks or roughly 45 miles north. The tower’s going to shoot out a red targeting laser. The laser is going to be right about where you’re standing so say your prayers now cuz’ once I accelerate there’s no going back.” Jeeve gave a small nod and said “I understand! Let's do this before I chicken out!”

Shirlene put the ship in autopilot and reclined back. She looked at the looming tower in the distance and smiled . . . she was happy. Whether Jeeve succeeded or not it honestly didn’t matter. This was the farthest she had come to getting out of Kiren and the thought of actually leaving excited her to no end. She reached under the computer’s console for something she hadn’t tasted in a long time. “Ah wine. My old crystalline friend, where have you been these past years?” Shirlene began pouring herself a glass until a violent shake from the ship stopped her. Setting the bottle down, she opened the radio channel between her and Jeeve “Hey J! What’s going on out there?”

 

“Well . . . These two other ships showed up and they’ve been barraging me with bullets ever since!”

 

“Nah forget about em’! We’re already here.” Jeeve turned around and got a little nervous as he saw the huge menacing tower.

 

    ****INSIDE WATCHTOWER 1****

“Sir we have a fast approaching ship from our south side!”

 

“Hmm. Have you issued the standard warnings?”

 

“Of course sir!”

 

“Well then proceed with the ARK ship disabler then.”

 

“Well sir that’s the problem. We scanned the ship and found three life signatures. A wolf, rabbit and an undefined one.”

 

“That’s odd . . . Are they using some kind of masking device?”

 

“No sir! If they were using a masking device, the signal would be obscured, but here it’s plain as day.”

 

“So then what the hell is on that ship?”

 

“We have reason to believe it’s the stolen weapon from the museum.”

 

“Hmm . . . Destroy the vessel and recover the weapon.”

 

“Sir . . Are you sure about this? Destroying the ship seems like a very brash move. The ARK weapon systems are highly unstable when used for things other than disabling ships. If the beam proves too powerful, then that ship is not the only thing that’ll be destroyed.”

 

“I don’t care what it takes, but I want that ship burned to a crisp. I can deal with the weapon in watery depths, but a downed ship doesn’t not account for a spry crew.”

 

“. . . Yes sir. Boosting ARK weapon system’s power now.”

 

****WITH C WING** **

****

Just as promised a thin laser beam was fired and lined right up with where he was standing, though he could’ve sworn Shirlene said it would be red. “Alright Jeeve, the weapon is about to fire. You ready?”

 

“As ready as I’ll be.”

 

“Alright they’re firing!” Just as she said that Jeeve’s world came to a screeching halt. He saw the beam move slowly across the sky to his position and readied himself for the contact. __“Alright Jeeve it’s now or never!”__ The beam had picked up a little speed and before he knew it, the beam had made it’s way right to him. Jeeve swung Ethos with all his might, but quickly ran into trouble. Unlike the laser beams from earlier, this one had serious recoil. Jeeve gritted his teeth as the green beam pushed violently against his sword. Jeeve could feel his muscles straining to keep the beam back, but he knew that any second he would fail.

He had been pushed to the absolute edge of the ship and just when he was about to fall over, the beam suddenly stopped. Time snapped back in place and Jeeve could hear Shirlene excited exclamations “NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!”

 

“What’s wrong? I saved us right?”

 

“Oh my fine extra terrestrial friend, you’ve done a lot more than you realized. Not only did you stop the beam, you also destroyed the tower!” Jeeve looked to the tower in disbelief and sure enough it was up in flames and crumbling into the ocean below. “Well what happens now that the tower is gone?”

 

“Well I guess folks can come and go as they please. Come on inside now, I’m going to throw the ship into full throttle and trust me when I say you don’t want to be on the hull when that happens!” Jeeve obeyed and climbed back down into the ship, where he was met with a slap on the back. “Now this one’s for the history books kid! We’re the first animals to escape Kiren and come tomorrow morning, the entire world’s gonna know how awesome we are!”

 

“Yea I guess, but doesn’t that __worry__ you?”

 

“Kid you’ll come to realize that they are only tow things that worry me; Running out of fuel and running out of wine.”

 

“ I just have a feeling that the attention is going to cause all sorts of trouble.” Shirlene smiled darkly and said “Jeeve. Hanging with this rabbit is __nothing but trouble!”__

__

__Welp That’s chapter three, clocking in about 6400 words. This one was seriously tough to write because of the action sequences, rapid progression and various set pieces. I promise you that chapters from here on out will be more consistent as far as story and progression goes. And I hope you stick around for the ride! Until next time my lovely readers!_ _

__-Steve The Visionary_ _

 

 


	4. Mining for Trouble

 

 ** **3:26 am****. That’s what her digital clock said, but she knew it couldn’t be true. Shirlene knew there was nothing in this world that could drag her out of bed before 1 in the afternoon and now her clock had the audacity to lie to her and claim it was some _obscene_ time of day! Begrudgingly she slipped out of bed, putting on a ratty t-shirt and shorts. Examining herself in the mirror, she patted the fur back down on her ears and smiled. “Another day. Another problem.” She continued her primping until she smelled the most delectable smell. “What on Alteria is that smell? It’s smells like . . . _heaven!”_  Rushing from her room, she bolted for the kitchen, to find a delightful scene.

 

“FOOD!” Jeeve gave Shirlene a puzzled look and said “Oh this? I just wanted to thank you for saving me and stuff. I know it’s not much, but where I come from a good breakfast is great way to thank somebody!” Shirlene ignored him and sat down at the table, furiously beating her paws against it “I WANT FOOD! I WANT FOOD!” Jeeve chuckled and went back to preparing the dish. He had made a standard spread of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. After making Clover a plate, he passed Shirlene a plate too. Shirlene greedily took the plate, then grimaced as she saw it. “Um excuse me. What is this!? How come your dog and you have all the meat and my plate is just eggs and bread?!” Jeeve tilted his head in confusion asking “Well first off Clover is not a dog, she’s a wolf pup and last time I checked rabbits were vegetarians.” Shirlene flicked an egg at Jeeve and said “Are you crazy!? I needs meat to __survive!__ I’ve always eaten meat and I don’t plan on stopping today!” Jeeve opened his mouth to protest but she silenced him by reaching over to his plate and taking some of his bacon. Jeeve shook his head playfully saying “And here I was wondering why your fancy fridge was full of protein.”

 

“Trust me protein is a must have in this line of work. A lot of heavy lifting and stuff.” The trio continued eating and making small talk, until a loud beeping noise interrupted them. Jeeve looked all around then asked “Hey what’s that noise?” She waved her paw dismissively and said “It’s a news alert. Apparently something big has happened. Let’s take a look see shall we?” Shirlene pulled out a small remote, then pressed a few buttons. Just then a small monitor over the stove came to life and the trio silently listened to the news.

 

__“Hello Alteria! Welcome to the A.N.N or The Alterian News Network. I’m your host Ronald Furbuki and yesterday has been one hell of a ride for Kiren! We’ve got a lot of news to cover this morning so let’s not dawdle! Ronald picked up some sort of tablet then said “Yesterday around 10:00am a mysterious robbery took place at the Alterian Museum of Natural History. Several exhibits were destroyed, including the never before seen ‘Court of The Patriarchs’ exhibit. The only item stolen was a green broadsword. Officials have not given any word on what happened or who the culprits were, but many speculate that this robbery was not just an isolated event. Which brings us to the next and probably most depressing of all . . . Commander Faze and Lieutenant Faux were both brutally murdered yesterday.”_ _

__

Shirlene grunted in frustration yelling “Brutally murdered my ass! They deserved what came to em’!” As the news reel continued Jeeve couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. “Shirlene I feel really bad about what happened yesterday.”

 

“What!? Why!? You didn’t do anything wrong! You were just minding your business like a good little alien, when they were roughing me up. I mean without you I’d be six feet under.”

 

“Yea I guess, but I still feel bad. My first day here and I’ve already wasted two people. . . .”

 

“Ah phooey! All you did was defend yourself. It’s their fault they can’t dodge laser bullets like you. Now you done feeling sorry for yourself?”

 

Jeeve rolled his eyes and replied “Yes ma’am.”

 

“Good because I think the guy is talking about us now!”

 

__“And following a chase through downtown, the culprits broke into the Kiren impounding facility and stole a ship and here’s where it gets interesting folks. The thieves were able to successfully bypass and destroy an ARK watchtower. Never before in the history of their creation have they been taken out and now this poses several problems for the Kiren leaders._ _

__

__One of which is that animals are now able to come and go as they please. A rough figure published by the Kiren Commission of Public affairs and the Kiren Census Bureau found out that an estimated 21,000 animals have left Kiren and the number steadily grows every hour. Local law enforcement and the Kiren Guard have been patrolling the skies, stopping numerous ships from leaving the kingdom, but now with the attention focused on the air, ground based crimes have skyrocketed!_ _

__

__Yes you heard right! Everything from petty robberies to murder is occurring in waves. Though the largest crime that seems to be happening is vandalism. Several murals, states, and portraits of his Honorable Kyoto Kydon have been defaced, destroyed, or desecrated in some fashion. Officials estimate that if this upward trend of vandalism continues, All of Kiren’s statues and public art will be ruined within the hour._ _

__We have reached out to the Kiren High Council about the recent developments and all they’ve supplied us with is a promise that the ‘madness will be dealt with swiftly and with fiery cause.’ We also tried to reach out to the Kydon administration for a response, but sadly we have received none. So while the madness continues down on the Kiren surface, animals from the nine other kingdoms can only ask ‘When will the insanity stop? And I too have a question. To those who committed these crimes . . . Was all this worth your illegal leaving of Kiren?”_ _

__

Shirlene laughed loudly saying “YOU BET FLUFFY TAIL IT WAS! I’M FREE! YES SIREE! FREEDOM! FREE- **_**_ERROR !ERROR!_**_** ** _ ** _CONSOLE NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION CAPTAIN!”_**_** Shirlene stopped her celebrating and dashed off to the bridge. Jeeve and Clover exchanged worried glances and ran off after her. Once they arrived they witness an angry rabbit cursing and beating upon various electrical instruments. “Uh . . . Say Shirlene are you alright?” Shirlene turned back toward Jeeve, flashed a hollow smile saying “What?! Is everything alright? Of course it is! We’re over an ocean and have 15% power left in the ship, so yes Jeeve. __EVERYTHING__ is alright . . . “ Jeeve looked past her toward the main computer and indeed saw a holographic 15 floating over the console. “Well why don’t you just refuel then?” Shirlene let out a tired sigh saying “It’s not that easy. Let me show you something.”

Shirlene pushed a button on the computer and another image appeared on screen. Jeeve studied and came to the conclusion that it was some kind of crystal. “What exactly is this Shirlene?”

 

“This is a __Renegade Ruby.__ It’s a power crystal that fuels all of Alteria. All sorts of machines, vehicles, and buildings depend on it to work . . . __including the C Wing.”__

__

“Okay pardon my potential ignorance, but why can’t we just go get some more?”

 

“Because one the closest place to get more is Kiren and I’m sure you know why we can’t go back there. Two, even if we could go back and get more, the C Wing’s power supply won’t last the trip. We need to get somewhere fast and snatch some crystals.” Jeeve’s mind began thinking of any way he could help his new friends, combing over his very limited knowledge of the area. After a few seconds he suddenly remembered something. “Look I know absolutely Jack diddly squat about this place or even you. But I remember hearing this drunk fox yell about some __mines of Angorri?__ It’s probably all bunk, but that really stuck with me.”

 

Shirlene began silently tapping her paw against the desk in an effort to think, before she sprung up and screamed “THAT’S COMPLETELY GENIUS!”

 

“I-It I-Is?”

 

“Of course! Why didn’t I think about it! I believe your drunken friend was referring to the Mines of Angorria. They’re Renegade Ruby mines that are a little ways off the coast from Kiren and all on an island guarded by . . . You guessed it the ARK Tower!”

 

“Wait so you mean to tell me that there are Renegade Rubies all alone on an island, just waiting to be taken?”

 

“No I mean to tell you that there are Renegade Rubies all alone on an island, just waiting to be taken!” Jeeve tilted his head in confusion, then smiled as he realized the joke.

 

“Well the question is . . . Do we have enough energy to get there?” Shirlene suddenly looked like she had seen a ghost and then started nervously typing away on her computer. With a sigh of relief she replied “Yes just barely. With our current energy consumption, the C Wing will only expend 7% of power to get there. So buckle up kid . . . We’re going on a treasure hunt!”

 

While Shirlene plugged in the coordinates, Jeeve took the time to freshen up in the bathroom. Jeeve looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. This was the first time in forever he had actually taken time to really __look__ at himself . . . Boy was he a mess. His once straight and pristine Afro had now been reduced to a black, tightly curled mess. He turned his face to the side and took note of how much darker his skin had gotten. It was once a nice even shade of chocolate brown, but now it seemed as if it had grown a shade or two darker. He looked at his eyes and stepped back in shock . . . His eyes had changed colors! The once dark brown orbs that were his eyes were now stark green. He blinked multiple times in hopes that the color would go away but it never did.He would’ve continued preening over himself, but Shirlene’s voice over the intercom interrupted him. __“Hey kid! Get your alien ass up here right now! We’re making our landing right now!”__ Jeeve nodded and quickly made his way to the bridge.

 

When he found Shirlene, she was already dressed in what appeared to be some miner’s outfit. “Hey Shirlene what’s up with the outfit?” Shirlene grabbed her weapon and began playing with it “What’s up with the outfit? Well didn’t I tell you? The air is a little wonky down in the mines, so I gotta keep safe.” Jeeve looked cross and said “Wait what do you mean __the air is a little wonky__ down there?”

 

“Well awhile ago there was like this __gas leak__ or something? I actually don’t remember, but better safe than sorry!”

 

“What about us? Don’t we get a cool little mining suit too?”

 

“Believe it or not. I actually have one for your little dog, but not one for you.”

 

“She’s a wolf and what’s gonna happen to me when I go down there?”

 

Shirlene ignored Jeeve’s questions and began landing the ship. Jeeve shook his head and looked out the window. With a name like __‘Mines of Angorria’__ He would’ve figured that there’d be lots of mountainous expanses, but no. Just a tiny island with no mountains at all. As the trio made their way outside Jeeve asked “How come there are no mountains here? I thought you needed mountains to have mines?”

 

“You must’ve failed geography.”

 

“How’d you know?!”

 

Jeeve watched as Shirlene fiddled with a device on her arm. To him it looked like a fancy watch, but to her it was her life line. “Alright so I’ve got a read on the mine’s layout. There’s an inlet straight ahead that’ll take us straight down into the main chambers, but we have to be careful. There’s still troops who monitor this place you know.” The trio walked silently to the inlet with Shirlene in the lead. And that is where they found their first complication “DAMMIT!”

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

“Oh nothing. It’s just this stupid door won’t open without native passkeys.”

 

“You mean like a security card or something?”

 

“Yea kinda.”

 

“I thought you took the ones from Faze and Faux?”

 

“Of course I did. But they don’t work here. Faze and Faux credentials must only be for level four entrances and above.”

 

“Well we have to do something!”

 

“Well . . . I c _ _ould__ blow the door straight to kingdom come, but I’ve only got two motion sensing bombs left.” Jeeve looked at the door, then at Ethos and shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I can cut the door open like in the movies?”

 

“You mean with your magical sword friend? I highly doubt it, but at this point I’m not abject to you trying.” Jeeve huffed at her indignance and shooed her away from the door. Trying to channel his strength, Jeeve closed his eyes and began breathing in and out slowly. Raising the sword diagonally above his head, Jeeve quickly brought the weapon down on the door, surprising everyone with the display.

 

“Well I’ll be a coyote’s fool. You actually did it! Say you think that thing can like __slice animals in half?!”__

 

“Uh . . . I don’t think so?”

 

“Ah you’re no fun!” The trio exchanged nervous looks, then entered the mines. As they made their way through, Jeeve couldn’t help bu ask questions. “So where are we now? I thought mines were underground.”

 

“We’re in the commissary. It’s the above ground portion where soldiers stationed here eat.”

 

“So . . . Where are the soldiers? It’s like a ghost town in here.”

 

“Don’t know. My sensors indicate that there are noliving animals down here.”

 

“What do you mean no __living animals__  down here?” Just then Clover began hopping up and down barking at the two. “What is it Clover?” Clover barked again, then took off running. Shirlene growled in frustration then said “Does she always do this?!”

 

“Well the last time she did this, she led me straight to you so . . . Maybe we should follow her.” Jeeve ran after Clover, with Shirlene begrudgingly scooting behind him. Luckily for them, Clover hadn’t ran far, only over to an elevator on the other side of the room. “Wow thanks mutt! I __really__ wanted to exercise today!” Jeeve ignored her snark and bent down to pet Clover, but stopped when he noticed something under her paws. “Hey Shirlene what’s this?”

 

Shirlene looked at the item for a second before replying “It’s a small fragment of a Renegade Ruby. Though I’m curious as to why it’s up here.”

 

“Well it looks like Clover found us the elevator!”

 

“Yea whatever. Guess she’s good for something.” Shirlene began pressing buttons on the elevator, then shouted as she was electrocuted. “Shirlene! Oh my God! Are you alright?!”

 

“Yea yea I’m fine. I have sex toys that shock harder than this.”

 

“. . . “

 

“Anyways, this elevator here is out of order.”

 

“That doesn’t make sense! I thought people worked here! Where is everybody?!”

 

“Calm down. The less animals here the better I say. Though this isn’t your average damage. No this panel here was sabotaged.”

 

“Wait! Like you mean someone trashed it on purpose?! Why on Earth would someone do that?!”

 

“Don’t know, but I got the strangest feeling we’ll fond out as soon as we touch down in the mine’s bottom. Keep watch while I jury rig this thing open will ya?”

 

Jeeve and Clover nodded and turned around to keep watch. Jeeve idly tapped on Ethos while watching the eating area. “Nothing to report here captain!”

 

“Well keep watching. It’ll take another minute or two to get this thing up and running.” Clover yawned at the boredom, then rolled over to take a nap. “You’re always napping. Is that a wolf thing?” Clover yawned again in response, leaving Jeeve to watch duty by himself. Jeeve lazily watched the entrance, then jumped back when he saw a flash of white. __“What the hell?”__ He thought as he squinted his eyes. “Calm down Jeeve. Just the stress of life kicking your ass.” Taking a deep breath Jeeve exhaled calmly and continued watching the area. Another minute passed then without warning, a large crash could be heard from the kitchen.

 

“Shirlene! Did you hear that?!”

 

“Well I have these large ass ears, so what do you think?”

 

“Now is not the time for being sarcastic! There’s something out there! __Watching us!”__

__

“Stop being a paranoid freak. I heard the crash too you know, but look around. We’re in a large, bright, open room. If anything were to happen I’d shoot the fucker between his eyes.”

 

“Ho can you be so calm about this?! Nothing is adding up! Where are the guards? Why is this place abandoned? Why can’t you get the elevator opened?!’

 

“Yes, No, and 24!”

 

“ . . . . That literally answers __none__ of my questions!”

 

“So you would say that I am not being helpful to the __current situation?”__

__

“Yes I would say that!”

 

“Well then by __your logic__ , you’re not being helpful either.”

 

“ . . . Wha?!”

 

“Sooooo . . . GET BACK TO WORK!”

 

Sighing in defeat, Jeeve slumped against the wall and returned to guarding Shirlene’s back. Another minute passed, and that’s when it happened . . . The lights shut down. “Oh no! NO WAY! I can deal with creepy atmospheres and loud scary noises, but when the lights go out?! Sorry but that is where I draw the line!!”

 

“Quit you’re whining. I got a superscope flashlight right here.”

 

“IT”S NOT THE SAME! Don’t you see?! This is a trap! I bet someone figured that we’d try to come here and now they’re setting this trap for us!!”

 

“ . . . You are all kinds of messed up. Look here kid. One crate. That’s all we need to be set for life! All it takes is one crate! We need to spring this place.”

 

Jeeve’s eyes darted back and forth before he replied “Okay but can we hurry! I get this creepy feeling we’re being watched!” Shirlene pressed a button on her arm device, then stood back as the door opened. “Alright all aboard. Bitches and kids first!” Jeeve rolled his eyes and and stepped in the elevator with Clover. Shirlene pressed the down button and braced herself as the elevator started its rocky descent.

 

“Alright guys this is the plan. Jeeve and his magical sword friend will slice and dice up the ruby deposit, while the dog and I will pick up the residuals. Sound like a plan?” Shirlene said while placing her paw in front of her.

 

“Sounds like a simple one, but I’m in too.” Jeeve placed his hand on top of Shirlene’s. Clover yipped happily, then wobbly stood on her hind legs and placed her paw on the other two.

 

“One. Two Three . . Go ME!” Shirlene shouted while throwing the appendages up in the air. Clover and Jeeve exchanged eye rolls and went back to minding their own business. The ride continued without a hitch until the elevator lost power. Jeeve began panicking, hyperventilating like a mad man.

 

“Calm down Jeeve! A nervous animal in an elevator does no one any good. Now look here. The elevator has a backup generator, and I’m gonna get it working. All I want you to do is lie down on the floor and calm down.”

 

Jeeve obeyed and lied on the floor trying to control his breathing. He smiled weakly as Clover came and plopped down on his chest in an effort to calm him down. “Thanks girl. I really needed that.” Clover licked his cheek happily then relaxed as Shirlene continued working. The trio sat in silence before a loud thud sounded from the top of the elevator. “What the hell is that?!” Shirlen said while reaching for her gun. Jeeve closed his eyes to concentrate and said “Someone’s on top of the elevator. I think they’re gonna cut the elevator cables.”

 

Shirlene suddenly looked pale and said “Shit shit shit shit shit shit! If they cut the cables from this height, we’ll all die!” Shirlene pointed the gun at the elevator roof and listened for the footsteps. She followed the animal as it made its way to the center, then fired crazily as the animal stopped. Several bullets pierced the roof, causing fleeting glimpses of what was pursuing them. Suddenly they heard a screeching noise come from the elevator roof. “Shit! They’re trying to cut through the ropes!” Shirlene quickly reached for the control panel and began mashing several buttons. The trio looked to the roof as the screeching stopped and was replaced with a ungodly shriek.

 

“Hey . . I think you hit it?!”

 

“I quickly restored the power back to the cables, so I’m guessing it got a healthy dose of 5,000 volts.”

 

“We gotta get out of here! I couldn’t see it!”

 

Shirlene shook her head in confusion asking “What do you mean you __couldn’t see it?”__

__

“It’s kinda hard to explain, but when it happened when Faze shot at me. It’s like the world slows down and gives me time to react to to what’s happening around me. I can see everything and everyone, and what they’re going to do before they do it. But when that thing ran across the hall earlier I couldn’t see it! It was just a fast moving moving blur!”

 

“Hey don’t worry. As long as we watch our six, this thing’s got no chance against us!”

 

“God I hope you’re right. . .”

 

The elevator made it’s way to the mine’s core without another incident, putting the trio on even more of an edge. Once the door opened they leaped out ready for fight, but were greeted with the dark silent bowels of the mine. “Alright guys. According I’m getting readings of a ruby deposit just east of here. Literally around the corner All we have to do is grab a few crystals and bounce.”

 

“You make it sound so simple.”

 

“Well that’s because it is. Look we’ve come __too__ far to turn tail now! So are you in or out?”

 

“I’m in, just a little apprehensive is all.” The trio walked to the deposit in silence, praying that they wouldn't be ambushed. Once they turned the corner, Shirlene shrieked, frightening Clover and Jeeve. “WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?! IS IT HERE FOR US!?”

 

“No you dolt! Look at this! It’s amazing!”

 

Jeeve rounded the corner and took in the sights. Reddish crystals everywhere! Every crook, cranny, and space was littered with them. Whistling to himself Jeeve said “How much is all this worth?”

 

Shirlene ran full speed ahead and jumped in a pile of crystals saying “More than you know pal! Hey pup! Go grab me a crate.” Clover yipped excitedly and ran off to get a crate. Jeeve tentatively took a few steps closer and asked “This may be great and all, but aren’t you nervous?”

 

“About what?”

 

“Well this whole scenario?! We come to a mining facility, there are no guards, no protection, there’s not even any miners?! And to top it all off, we were just attacked by some creature in the elevator! This whole thing is screaming a trap to me! Why else would this __whole__ place be evacuated!”

 

Shirlene lazily slid off her pile of crystals and said “Look. I get it, no I really do. You’re the nervous skittish type, that’s fine in my book, but I grew up never questioning a miracle. And this right here is as big a miracle as they get. Just look! So many rubies . . . __ripe for the taking!”__ Shirlene snatched the crate from Clover and began greedily stuffing it with rubies. Jeeve face palmed himself, then resorted to keeping watch. Once Shirlene was done, she sealed up the crate and strapped it to Clover’s back.

 

“Hey! Don’t put that on her back! She’s just a kid!”

 

“Nah don’t let looks deceive you. She’s a work wolf, her breed lifts heavy things all the time. This crate right here can’t weigh any more than twelve pounds.”

 

“ _ _12 pounds!?__ She’s just a little pup! Clover are you alright?”

 

Clover sounded off with a happy bark and began wagging her tail. Jeeve relented and said “Alright you win, but we need to get out of here before something else happens.”

 

“Way ahead of you! There’s another service elevator straight ahead! All we got to do is ride it to the surface and BAM! We’re home free!”

 

__“I have to disagree with you captain.”_ _

 

The trio exchanged confused looks and began looking for the source of the voice. Forming a protective circle, the trio readied themselves for a fight. Shirlene pulled out the two pistols she had taken earlier, while Jeeve drew Ethos from his back. Shirlene pointed her guns towards the shadows and said “Alright coward! Show yourself! I don’t like playing fuck-fuck games!” Jeeve suppressed a chuckle and said “That’s right! You better come out before we . . . uh well you better come out!”

 

The trio watched as a wolf, white as snow, stepped from the shadows. By her looks they could tell she was female and by her uniform Shirlene could tell she was trouble. Shirlene kept her weapons pointed and said “Who are you?!”

 

“I believe we have already met Captain . . . __Spitfire__ was it?”

 

“Yea that’s the name. Who’s asking?”

 

The white wolfess chuckled before saying “You know when I got reports of a ship destroying the ARK Tower, I almost swore up and down that it couldn’t be true, but now seeing __this . . .__ Makes my heart expand with joy.”

 

Shirlene growled saying “What are you talking about?! I Don’t like vague answers!”

 

“You are feisty for a prey animal. Most prey know their place and give proper respects when I address them, but you . . . . You are different.”

 

Jeeve looked at the exchange between the two and quickly whispered to Clover __“Psst! Listen Clover! If things get bad between us and the wolf, you run straight to the ship! You understand?!”__ Clover nodded her head subtly, giving Jeeve a little relief. “ . . . And you.”

 

Jeeve looked to his left and right before replying “Who me!?”

 

“Yes you. Your presence here has caused many problems.”

 

“Yea so I heard. Sorry about the chaos down on Kiren. I didn’t chose to come here.”

 

The white wolfess seemed to be lost in thought before she replied “ I believe you’re a good lad, so I’m going to give you a choice. Come with me and pledge your allegiance to Kyoto Kydon or . . . __Die with these vagrants.”__

 

“ . . . . those are pretty stark choices. Maybe we can come to some kind of agreement here?” The white wolfess reached behind her back and pulled out her weapon of choice.

 

“Wait?! That’s the double edged spear from the museum!”

 

The wolfess smiled saying “You have a keen eye. This is __Jericho,__ a weapon from old. She belonged to one of the original patriarchs and now . . . She belongs to me. As I’m sure you’ve come to learn, you have a patriarchal weapon too, though not for much longer.”

 

The wolfess got in a fighting stance, threatening to charge the trio any second. It came so fast even Jeeve had trouble blocking it. The wolfess ran blazingly fast to Jeeve and slashed at him as soon as he was in range. Jeeve barely had time to block it, so he rolled out of the way to dodge it. Not letting up, the wolfess ran right back to him, slashing again with unnatural ferocity. Jeeve brought Ethos up to meet her slash, but the force of swing caused him to bend under her pressure.

 

Watching him squirm, she taunted him saying “I expected more of a fight from you! Where is your warrior spirit?” Jeeve grunted under the pressure, giving his all in hopes that he could last out longer. Suddenly the pressure on his weapon lifted and he fell on his back. Jeeve looked up in confusion, then suddenly tensed as he saw Shirlene drawing the wolfess away.

 

“You’re fight’s with me bitch! Leave him alone!” The wolfess ignored her taunts and instead charged for her, slashing and swiping with anger. Shirlene kept dodging and shooting, a hopeful combination of agility and luck.

 

“Shirlene! We need to get outta here! We can’t hold her off forever!”

Shirlene fired a few shots her attacker, all of which were blocked.

 

“Yea I know! But we’re not going to hold her off forever, just until your little mutt gets back to the C Wing.” getting his bearings, Jeeve dashed to the wolfess and swung Ethos with great vigor. The wolfess quickly refocused her attention to Jeeve and blocked his attack. As the two traded blows, Shirlene crept on the wolfess and planted something on her. Feeling the sensation on her back she immediately turned to attack, but stopped once she saw the rabbit’s smiling face.

 

“I wouldn’t do that Wolfy. One false move and those motion sensing bombs will make a crater out of you.” The wolfess said nothing and remained silent as she glared daggers at Shirlene. Jeeve carefully moved around to Shirlene and said “We gotta get outta here! I think she broke something.” Shirlene nodded saying “Oh but before I go . . . “ Shirlene reached into the wolfess’ breast pocket and took something out “Hmm . . . __KIRA KYDON!?__ Jeeve we need to leave now!”

 

“THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING SINCE WE GOT HERE!!”

 

“Yea yea! But that was before I figured out who she was. Lets book it!” The duo ran from the frozen wolf in hopes of getting to the ship before she got to them. Once inside the elevator Jeeve asked “How long will the bombs last on her?”

 

“Not long enough. We got about another minute or so before they time out and have to be reactivated.” She pressed a button on the elevator and cringed as she heard a explosion. Jeeve and Shirlene exchanged worried looks. “Shirlene . . . What was that?”

 

“That would be the sound of the motion sensing bombs going off.”

 

“Wait so did we get her?!” Shirlene checked the device on her arm and began spouting foul obscenities “No. Somehow she survived and is making her here now!” The duo anxiously rode the elevator to the surface and bolted out as soon as it was open. Running through the commissary, they could hear loud clangs and bangs as they got closer to the exit. Once outside Shirlene called for the ship, by yelling into her watch “Hey Computer! Get your engines rolling and ready to fly! We’re coming in hot!” The two made it to the C wing unharmed and almost made it on board before Kira’s voice startled them.

 

“Take one more step and I will smite you both.”

 

“Get on the ship Shirlene.”

 

“What? I beg your pardon!?”

 

“Get on the ship. I’ll hold her off long enough for you to get out of here.”

 

“ . . . You’re a bold kid Jeeve. A bold kid.” Shirlene turned around and quickly scurried aboard her ship. Jeeve and Kira continued their stare off, until the C Wing powered up and began to lift off the ground.

 

“Just like a prey to run in the face of adversity. But even though I don’t know what you are . . . I can tell you’re not a prey. You’re a predator like me, top of the food chain.”

 

“If you’re trying to __recruit__ me or something? It won’t work!”

 

“I will teach you right here and right now that your allegiance is misplaced.” Kira drew her weapon and readied to attack. Jeeve readied himself, but stopped when he heard Shirlene’s shouting “GET OUT THE WAY KID!!” Just then the C Wing began firing a barrage of laser at Kira, forcing her to fall back. “Well what are you waiting for?! The ship can’t hold her back forever!”

 

Jeeve looked at the height of the ship and shook his head. The C Wing had to be at least 20 feet in the air, and the highest he had ever jumped had been like __3.__ Jeeve looked to Ethos and said “I hope you gave me some super jumping ability too!” Getting a running start the hero leapt the distance with grace and unparalleled agility. Stumbling a bit as he landed, Jeeve looked back to the ground and sighed. He didn’t know which was scarier, the fact that Kira was still alive or the fact that they would definitively run into her again.

 

Jeeve ran to the bridge to see a very happy rabbit. “Why are you so happy?! We just almost died!”

 

“Well . . . We also scored a CRATE full of Renegade Rubies! How can you not be happy!? We’re pretty much set for life!”

 

“Shirlene. Can you tell me something?”

 

“Yea hold on a sec. HEY COMPUTER!”

 

**_**_“Yes Captain?”_ ** _ **

 

“Set the ship in autopilot mode. Me and the kid gotta have a little heart to heart.”

 

**_**_“Understood Captain.”_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

“So kid. What do you wanna know?”

 

“Who is __Kyoto Kydon?__ I’ve been hear on this planet not even a day and I’ve heard his name like hundreds of time.” Shirlene poured herself a glass of wine, then sighed.

 

“That’s a good question kid. Kyoto Kydon is . . . Well he’s pretty much king of the world here.”

 

“I-I don’t completely follow. So he’s like president of the world or something?”

 

“Kinda kid. Let me give you a little geography lesson. Alright so the planet we’re on is called Alteria and there are ten countries, but the locals call em’ kingdoms. Each kingdom forms a piece of a circle, with Kyoto’s kingdom being in the middle.”

 

“Okay I think I’m getting it, but what does that have to do with Kyoto?”

 

“Well I’m glad you asked. A couple decades ago there was a war between the outer kingdoms, something about the __patriarchs__  or . . . Look kid I don’t know all the details, but here’s the take away. Dissent fell over the world and the __marvelous__ Kydon kingdom ‘took control and saved the day!’”

 

“So what __is__ Kyoto?”

 

“You mean like what animal? Oh he’s supposed to be some kinda mystical wolf or something. He hardly ever shows himself in public anymore. You really don’t even hear about him anymore.”

 

“So here’s my next question . . . Why are there so many canines around? I haven’t really seen many other animals.”

 

“Oh that’s simple . . . Animals that aren’t predators don’t last long here. You have to be pretty rich or extremely lucky to survive in a predator based world like this.”

 

“So how did you do it?”

 

“Whoa pal! One pow wow at a time! My heart isn’t built to handle this level of emotional stimulation.”

 

“Well what are we going to do about Kira? She completely blindsides us!”

 

“Nah don’t sweat it! We got you and your mystical sword buddy!”

 

“Well I really don’t know how to use Ethos. I mean just three days ago I was watching Sci-Fi movies and now I’m living them . . . It’s a pretty jarring experience.” Shirlene seemed lost in thought for a second before saying “Don’t worry kid! There’s plenty of mystic hoo hahs and spiritual looneys around that can __show you the ways of the force!”__ Jeeve chuckled and said “Well I guess, but what happens now?”

 

“Well I got some rubies in the ole’ C Wing, so now we can travel __anywhere__ in Alteria! I’ll call up some of old contacts tomorrow and see if we can score some work. In the meantime, you and your d- I mean __wolf__ should get some rest. I’ll patch up some more things around the ship.”

 

“Uh . . . Thanks. And Shirlene?”

 

“Yea what’s up kid?”

 

“I just wanted to say thanks for the save earlier . . . I would’ve been creamed by Kira without you.”

 

“How many times I gotta tell ya kid? Don’t sweat it! I wouldn’t be much of a captain without my crew, though you really should thank your little wolf pup. She’s the one who got the crate here without any problems and that took guts!”

 

“Yea you’re right! Thanks again Clover! Without you, we’d be a sitting duck.” Clover yipped happily and rubbed herself against Jeeve’s leg. Jeeve bent down and rubbed her ears contently. “Shirlene? Will Clover grow up to walk and talk like you?”

 

“Are you kidding? Of course she will! Though I’m guessing she’ll be all soft and feelsy like her alien father.”

 

“Eww Don’t call me her father! I’m barely 18 years old, most certainly not old enough to be anyone’s father.”

 

“Aww don’t be shy. Plenty of animals have litters when they’re your age, besides the kid’s gonna need a father. I mean who else is gonna feed her blood?”

 

“Yes I suppose you’re right . . . __WAIT BLOOD?!”__

__

 


	5. Worming Through The Ocean

 

 ** **. . .**** Peace and quiet. Jeeve and Clover lay in bed, sleeping contently through the storm that was brewing outside. It was the first time since his parent’s death that he had actually slept well, though unbeknownst to him, his well earned rest would not last long. Jeeve grumbled in his sleep, tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed, causing Clover to yip and leap on Jeeve in fright. She began pawing his chest and whimpering but Jeeve couldn’t hear her for he himself was frightened.

 

__“STAY BACK!” Jeeve warned as he clutched onto Ethos with dear life. He had running through this dense jungle for hours, trying not to be caught. He had stumbled into a pit and was now at the mercy of his captor. “Hello Jeeve.” Jeeve tried to climb out the pit, but cried out in pain as he slid back down to bottom. “Don’t come any closer Kira!”_ _

__

__“My my. Feisty just like your rabbit friend. A pity she had to meet such a grisly death.” Jeeve growled angrily screaming “I’LL KILL YOU! YOU BETTER NOT HAVE LAID A CLAW ON HER!”_ _

__

__“Yes . . . That’s it! Get angry with me! Unleash your rage upon me! Show me your true emotions!” Tears streamed down his face as he lunged for Kira. She sidestepped with ease and laughed as he fell face first in the dirt. Kira rolled him onto his back saying “Tell me where you are and I_ _ **_**_may_ ** _ ** __let you live.” Jeeve mumbled as he tried to sit up, but Kira kicked him in his face, foiling his attempt. “If you won’t willingly reveal your location, then I will make you.” Kira took her weapon Jericho and plunged her into Jeeve’s side._ _

__

__“AAAHHHH!”_ _

__

__“Yes keep screaming I’ve almost . . . Hmm The seas of Tigerius? An interesting hiding place.” Kira pulled her spear from Jeeve and smiled as his blood sprayed everywhere. Reaching out with her paw, she caught some of the blood and tasted it. “MMM! You taste divine! I can’t wait to sink my actual teeth into your flesh.”_ _

__

“AAAHHH!! STAY BACK!” Jeeve lunged from his bed, tripping and falling on the floor. “Ow!? Wait I’m alive?” To test his theory he rockily stood up and sat on the bed. “Well kind of . . .” Jeeve looked over at Clover and noticed her hiding under the sheets. “Oh I’m sorry girl. Did I scare you? Come here.” Clover poked her head out from under the sheets, and scampered over to Jeeve. He picked her up and set her down gently in his lap. “Did you have a bad dream too?” Clover shook her head, then yipped as the lightning flashed across the window. “Oh it was the storm outside. You don’t have to fear the storm, it doesn’t last forever!” Clover whimpered then weaseled out of Jeeve’s grasp. “Where you going?” Clover said nothing as she jumped off the bed and grabbed something from under it. Jeeve picked her up from the floor and placed her back in his lap. “What’s this Clover? Wait? Is this my __book?”__

 

Jeeve tried to grab the book from her, but she jerked her head away before he could grab it. Clover then dropped it in front of her and the book opened up to a certain page. “What’s this? Jeeve picked up the book and began skimming through the pages. He couldn’t find anything of importance here, just talk of trade routes, political figures, and __a giant worm?__ ‘This book is strange. Wait?! If Grandpa had this, that means he must be here right?” Jeeve closed the book and with newfound resolve, dashed for the bridge. “SHIRLENE! I HAVE QUESTIONS!!! Shir- Wait where is she?” Clover began sniffing around and barked at Jeeve “What you find girl?” Jeeve bent down and picked up a note from Shirlene. __“Hey kid if you need me I’m down in the motor pool. P.S. You__ ** _ ** _should_**_** _ _make breakfast. I’m not telling you to, but . . . .__ ** _ ** _YOU SHOULD DO IT!”_**_** Taking the hint, Jeeve dashed off to the kitchen, to prepare breakfast again.

 

“When he was done he said “Come on Clover. We’re gonna get some answers!” When the two got to the motor pool, they found Shirlene under a vehicle, covered in grease. Once she noticed them, she smiled and slid from under the vehicle “Hey looky there! You got my ****suggestion.**** ” Jeeve rolled his eyes as he handed the greasy rabbit her plate.

 

“Shirlene I got a question for you.”

 

“Can it wait til’ after I’ve stuffed my face?”

 

“No it can’t! This is real important!” Shirlene sighed, setting the plate down and replied “Oh alright! What’s so important that a rabbit can’t eat?”

 

“Are you absolutely **_**_positive!_**_** That there are no other humans here!”

 

“If by __hue-man__ you’re referring to yourself then I can absolutely say yes!”

 

“Then how do you explain this?!” Jeeve threw the book to her and she began casually skimming through it. After about a minute or two she said “Well it’s like an old history book. Like ancient old! We don’t even use this kind of paper anymore!”

 

“I found that in my grandfather’s attic in my world! How do you explain __that?!”__ Shirlene seemed lost in thought before she sighed saying “Look I don’t know where or how this got in your world but, I may know a nutjob who can help you.”

 

“Really?!”

 

“Yea I conned him awhile ago, but who knows? Maybe he’s forgiven me after all this time.”

 

“When can we see him?!”

 

“Well I mean we’re free tod-”

 

**_**_“CAPTAIN! INCOMING TRANSMISSION! PRIORITY ONE!”_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

“Hold that thought kid. Momma’s gotta take care of business. Patch the loser through computer. . . Oh Shit! Eh kid make yourself scarce! Can’t have animals out there knowing I’m harboring an alien.” Jeeve nodded then quickly left the room as the call came through. On screen appeared a smartly dressed panther. He had on a pristine white suit with a black tie to match. He scanned over Shirlene through his thick rimmed glasses and said “Hmm. So you’re the one who escaped Kiren. I never would have thought.” Shirlene smiled saying “Prem Kumar! My old friend! How’s life up there with the big shots?”

 

“It’s acceptable. How’s life as a fugitive?”

 

“Oh it’s great you know! I get to sleep in! Eat cereal whenever I want, I can fly without registration, you know! The whole works!”

 

“Yes sounds . . . __delightful.”__ Shirlene rocked on the balls of her paws awkwardly. Here was one of her old high profile employers just calling to . . . __catch up on all times?__  

 

“So __Mr. Kumar.__ What brings you calling on my __private__ channel?” Prem Kumar just stared at her with a look of pain mixed with desperation.

 

“How did you do it?”

 

“I beg your pardon?”

 

 ** **“DAMMIT SHIRLENE! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR GAMES!!”**** The rabbit pilot jumped back from the yelling. She watched with intrigue as Mr. Kumar sighed and brought his paws up to his face.

 

“I apologize for my outburst Ms. __Yara.__ I just . . . How did you it!? How did you bypass the ARKTower?!” Shirlene cringed at the sound of her real last name but quickly recovered replying

 

“Ah sorry Mr. Kumar. A good girl never reveals her secrets.”

 

“ . . . Can you do it again?!”

 

“I mean I could, but why?” Mr Kumar sighed saying “They have them . . .”

 

“Have who Mr. Kumar?”

 

“ . . . My family; Scarlet and Stella.” Shirlene shook her head while walking over to a cabinet. She pulled out a bottle of wine and began chugging straight from the bottle.

 

“So let me get this straight. Your family has been kidnapped and you want me? A criminal to Alteria to retrieve them? I’m sorry but why can’t you go to someone who’s not . . . __well me?”__

__

“I’ve went to everybody! Everbody I tell you! Every damn __council__  and __police force__ in __Alteria__!! Everyone tells me the exact same thing!! __Just fill out a report and we’ll have someone on the case in 6 to 8 business days.__ I don’t have that kind of time!”

 

“Well okay but why me?! I mean our last transaction is what landed me on that miserable rock in the first place!”

 

“Look I’m real sorry about trading you over to the Kiren authorities! I thought everything was secure! I couldn’t risk being caught I-I . . .”

 

“Alright look. Just . . . Tell me the truth. What would I be up against?” Prem adjusted his tie and glasses and pressed a few button on his console. Just then, a holographic image of a kingdom appeared on screen. “The thugs are located in the Lauri Deserts. I know they haven’t left yet because of the ARKTowers over there. My wife’s distress beacon went off over here.” Shirlene studied the information and sighed “So you mean to tell me she’s in the Red Tail territory?”

 

Prem nervously wrung his paws together and said “Yes . . . I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but I’m desperate! Once I told the authorities they laughed in my face! My FACE!? Without my tax contributions there wouldn’t even be a ARKTower!”

 

“Okay pal don’t blow a gasket. Your beacon location is pretty accurate so I’ll see what I can do. I think I can handle this, wouldn’t be the first time I had to dance with delinquents.”

 

“Oh yes! Thank you so much Ms. Yara! How could I ever repay you?!”

 

“Well one; I think a million credits is a fair price for such an __impossible feat.”__

__

“Fine consider it done! And number two?”

 

“The last name’s Spitfire. Don’t go throwing my government name around like a ball. Gotta keep up appearances. Oh and before I go. I don’t know If I can do this successfully or not, but I’ll do my best alright?”

 

“I know this is a lot to ask of you especially considering __your own history__ with the Lauren Kingdom, but I believe in you Ms. Y- I mean __Spitfire.__ Please bring them home.” Mr. Kumar pressed another button on his console and ended the transmission. Shirlene sighed and sat down “Alright you scoundrels, you can come back in now.” Jeeve and Clover poked their heads from around the corner, then walked in. “Say Shirlene who was that?”

 

“That my alien friend was an old . . . __employer__ of sorts. I used to smuggle things in and out of kingdoms for him.”

 

“Well what did he want with you?”

 

“Well I guess the cat’s gotten into hot water, so he needs someone to go retrieve his family from behind enemy lines.”

 

“I’m guessing that’s what we’re gonna go do now?”

 

“You guessed compadre! So go get suited and booted, because we’ll be there in 30 minutes.”

 

“Alright we’re off to save the day! Now that’s a noble cause!” Jeeve turned to leave then stopped as he got a better look at Shirlene’s machine.

 

“Say Shirlene’s what’s this thingy here do? Looks like a fancy four wheeler . . . __With a turret?”__

 

“Oh this old thing? It was pet project of mine awhile ago, but When shit hit the fan, I had to abandon it here. I’m actually surprised it works. When you’re done getting dressed, you and your little pup better meet me on the bridge.”

 

“You can count on us!”

 

****20 MINUTES LATER** **

 Jeeve and clover reported back to Shirlene ready for action. Shirlene pressed a few buttons on her console and brought up a picture of several wolves and what seemingly was a castle. “Alright listen up pups! We’re going to the Lauren Kingdom to a little place called The Red sands of Sauri. Now we’ve been tasked with a little search and rescue mission, pretty easy stuff. All we have to do is break into the Red Tail’s clan and rescue two panthers.”

 

“Wait a minute! None of that sounds easy!”

 

“It is trust me. . . Oh and I forgot tell you! There’s an ARKTower protecting The Lauren Kingdom too sooooo . . . . You know what to do!”

 

“Wait another one of those __terrible towers?”__

__

“Yea and here’s the kicker . . . It’s on the other side of the kingdom so you’ll have to just know when the beam is coming.”

 

“How?! How am I supposed to know when the beam’s coming?”

 

“Well I don’t know __commune with the buffalo?__ Figure it out kid, you’re the sword wielding alien.” Jeeve sighed and closed his eyes, Shirlene had a knack for pushing her luck. “Alright kid we’re right above Lauren and . . . We’ve got company!”

 

“What do you mean by __company?”__

 

“What’d you think!? I invited the Lauren Air Guard to tea? They’re hear to tear us a new asshole! So get out there and start deflecting bullets!” Jeeve nodded quickly and scurried to the service hatch. He slowly poked his head out of the hatch and ducked as a stray laser beam flew by. __“This rabbit will be the death of me!”__ Jeeve thought as he climbed out onto the roof.

 

Right behind the C Wing were two black interceptors. They seemed to be firing warning shots, but Jeeve wasn’t taking any chances. The ship on the left fired two shots at him, both of which were deflected back to it. The ship seemed to rock a bit, but then re-stabilized and continued firing back. Jeeve began sweating bullets as both ships tried to score a hit on the C Wing. Shirlene brought the ship into a steep nose dive yelling “HOLD ON KID!! I’M GONNA LOSE THEM IN THE DUNES!” Jeeve clutched onto the railing as the C Wing spiraled towards the sandy dunes causing Jeeve to suffer from temporary vertigo. “HERE WE GO KID!” Shirlene yelled as she pulled up on the ship’s control stick.

 

The C Wing roared and leveled out, barely scrapping the sand as Shirlene fought to raise the altitude. The two interceptors didn’t fair as well. Both ships couldn’t pull up in time and crashed in the sand. Shirlene leveled out the ship, while Jeeve readied for the ARK beam. He could see it creeping over the horizon and braced for impact. The beam’s trajectory arced a little lower than the last one, so he had to run to the front on the ship to block it. The beam surged through Ethos, but eventually died out as Jeeve held on. “Alright Shirlene, I’ve blocked the beam. You’re clear for landing.”

 

“Nice going kid! Our target is only a few Klicks north, so here’s the plan. I going to give them a chance to bring the hostages out before I blow the place to kingdom come!”

 

“Won’t you hurt the hostages?”

 

“Well it honestly doesn’t matter. I’m still getting paid either way so, let’s hope our wolvern friends decide to play nice.” Shirlene brought the ship down in front of The Red Tail Castle and called for Jeeve. After a short climb down Jeeve asked “I thought we were going in using stealth?”

 

“Oh no! You misheard me then! I honestly thought the Red Tail Clan would have better defenses! All it takes is a ****M.L.R.S**** attack and this place is demolished!”

 

“You seem a little trigger happy today. Everything alright?”

 

“Look kid . . . I haven’t gotten to use the artillery on my ship in ages. I’m dying to blow something up. So we’ll give them one chance and if they refuse . . . __BLAM!__ We send them to meet their maker!” Jeeve shook his head in disapproval, but followed Shirlene out of the ship anyway. The two walked calmly across the sandy terrain, but were stopped as two guards began yelling at them. “EH! NOT ANOTHER STEP!” Shirlene nudged Jeeve’s rib whispering __“Don’t worry! I’ll handle these goons!”__

__

“Hello my wolvern friends! I am Captain Shirlene of C Wing!”

 

The leader of the guards called back “And why should we care?”

 

“Well we have a message for your leader.”

 

“Anything you need to say to him goes through us.” The wolves raised their blasters and aimed for the duo. Shirlene rolled her eyes and said “Why so distrusting? Fine . . . If it has to be that way please forward this message to him.” The wolves lowered their weapons as Shirlene reached inside her flight jacket’s pocket. She quickly drew her guns and killed both wolves before they could even react. “Tell him I came to fuck shit up.”

 

“Whoa . . . Uh don’t you think that was a little much?!”

 

“What?! They were gonna shoot! It was us or them!”

 

“I guess, but really with the __cheesy__ line?”

 

“I didn’t think it was cheesy. I thought it was pretty cool!” The duo continued on toward the castle, only to walk another ten steps before being stopped again. More wolves had shown up and this time, they asked no questions. They quickly formed a circle around the duo and threw a large net over them. Once the net was secured, the group hoisted them up and began carrying them to the castle. Jeeve looked over to Shirlene and noticed how . . . __sad__ she was. It was an emotion the young hero hadn’t seen on his friend since his arrival here. He nervously glanced around the group, making sure he wasn’t being watched. __“Psst! Hey Shirlene! This net is pretty weak. I can slice through it with no trouble!”__

__

__“Don’t do it kid. Save it for the throne room.”_ _

__

__“Say Shirlene. Are you okay? You look upset and I know it’s not the fact that we were captured.”__ Shirlene sighed and whispered __“I used to live here . . . With my family on Lauri.”__

__

__“Really? How were things? What did you guys do?”_ _

__

__“We did what all prey animals did. . . Farmed water. Farmers on Lauren are just glorified slaves. They worked us to the bone for rations of food and water. . . It was a miserable existence.”_ _

__

__“So I’m guessing you left then?”_ _

__

__Smart kid. Yea I wanted off this miserable sand pile, so one night I told my family goodbye. I stashed away on an outgoing shipment ship and never looked back.”_ _

__

__“Wow that’s real deep . . . So who imprisoned you?”_ _

__

__“Queen Takota. She made all prey animals slaves . . . Look kid I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, but I just want you to know who we’re up against. These guys work for her, if you see them don’t hesitate to kill. If the king of these fools doesn’t want to play nice, then slash him where he stands alright?”__ Jeeve gave a solemn nod. He wasn’t real excited about the prospect of having to kill someone, but if he needed to keep his new family safe, then he would make an exception.

 

The wolves got tired of carrying the duo, then resorted to dragging them across the floor. Once inside the castle Jeeve and Shirlene were taken to the throne room where the net was lifted, but in it’s place high tech handcuffs were instated. Jeeve watched as Ethos was carried away and out of the room, he began to feel sorry for whomever would be holding Ethos when he called for him. On the throne sat a royally adorned, tan wolf. The wolf on the throne looked at Shirlene uncaringly then turned his attention to Jeeve and asked “What on Alteria is this creature? It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on!” On of the guards in the back yelled “We don’t know your highness! We found him and the rabbit walking toward the castle earlier. They killed two other guards on their way here!”

 

The royal wolf looked very intrigued and asked “Tell me . . . Rabbit! Tell me why you slain two of my sons?” Shirlene looked at her restraints, then up at the wolf and said “Well all we wanted to do was deliver a message to you . . . __Your Highness.”__

__

“Oh a message? For moi?”

 

“Yes it comes from Mr. Prem Kumar. There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding here. You see, you’ve accidentally kidnapped his wife and daughter and if you could just kindly return them . . . We’ll be on our way.”

 

“Oh that is Rich! Prem Kumar sent __you two__ To retrieve his family! That Kumar! ****Always making poor choices.**** ”

 

“Your humbleness. If you do not return his family I painfully inform you, that there will be dire consequences.” The royal wolf raised one eyebrow,then smiled as he said “Two of you go retrieve Ms. Scarlet. I want these two to see failure in the fur.” The two guards nodded and quickly ran off to retrieve Mr. Kumar’s wife. When they returned, Jeeve couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor cat. She was dressed in ratty, torn, and coarse slave garments, and she was exceptionally thin. The bags under her eyes were definitively from a lack of sleep. She also had several bruises and cuts, clearly on display for the duo to marvel at. “Take a good look Mrs. Kumar. This is the rescue party your loving husband sent. A rabbit and a . . . Well I don’t know what that one is, but the point remains. Mrs. Kumar sent a hopeful gaze towards Shirlene and Jeeve, she had not yet given up hope and Jeeve could see it.

 

Shirlene sighed and replied “Where’s the daughter?”

 

“I’m done talking to you rabbit. Your time has come.”

 

“Last Chance Ton’Ja! Release her and tell me where the daughter is or I’ll set this place ablaze!” Ton’Ja laughed at Shirlene’s threat and said “Oooh! You are a fiesty one! Go ahead, __light this place ablaze!!__  I do not fear you rabbit, I am TON”JA LEADER OF THE RED TAIL CLAN!”

 

“Okay just don’t say I didn’t warn you . . . Jeeve.”

 

“Wha? Uh . . Yes!?”

 

“Call for your little __friend.”__ Jeeve scrunched his face in confusion, before smiling and yelling “ETHOS!” The weapon’s name reverberated off the large ornate walls, causing everyone to look around in anticipation. Everything became quiet, until a large crashing noise startled the guards. Ton’Ja nervously fiddled with his robe before yelling “Someone go stop that incessant racket!” Several guards filed out the room with weapons drawn, ready to attack the intruder. Screaming and yelling could be heard right outside the door, causing Shirlene and Jeeve to smile. Just then the weapon burst through the door, hurtling towards its master. Jeeve smiled and leapt into the air. With a midair tilt, the weapon flew towards him, slicing his restraints in the process. Jeeve caught the weapon and brought him down on Shirlene’s restraints. Once free Shirlene charged for a guard who was watching Jeeve and jump kicked him in the chest. The wolf fell down, dropping his weapon in surprise. Grabbing the weapon, Shirlene quickly fired upon the downed guard and returned back toward Jeeve.

 

“Alright Ton’Ja. This is your absolute ****last**** chance. Don’t make me kill you.” Ton’Ja quickly shot up from his throne and began running for the exit. “Guards! Kill them! Let none live!” Just as he left, several more guards poured in, all armed with heavy weaponry. Shirlene looked at her wrist com and yelled into it saying “Computer! You there!?”

 

**_**_“YES CAPTAIN?”_ ** _ **

****

“Launch the __Fur Fucker.__ We need a good set of wheels right now.”

 

**_**_“RUNNING DEPLOYMENT PROCESS . . . LAUNCHING ‘_ ** _ ** **_ **_FUR FUCKER’_ ** _ ** **_**** _ ** **_**_“_ ** _ **

**_ **** _ **

“What’s the __Fur Fucker?”__

__

“Oh just bad-ass, four wheeled vehicle of death and destruction.” The duo refocused their attention to the ring of wolves, ready to kill. Jeeve readied Ethos and quickly charged for the ring. He moved much faster than any normal animal, that the wolves didn’t even realize he had moved. Jeeve ran round and round, slashing and cutting anything foolish enough to stand still. Once the wolves realized they were being killed, they quickly began firing in all directions, trying to hit the invisible threat. Shirlene quickly slipped away toward Scarlet and said “Hey are you alright?” The scared panther only whimpered in response, leaving Shirlene to sigh. “Your husband sent me to get you outta here, but I need you to remember . . . Where is your daughter.”

 

“I-I . . . S-S-She . . . I DON’T KNOW! We were separated when we were first kidnapped. Please you have to help her!”

 

“Don’t worry ma’am.” Shirlene quickly glanced to her watch and saw that the Fur Fucker was already here. “Help has arrived.” Just then the sounds of screeching tires could be heard out in the hall. A couple guards stopped fighting to go check on the noise, only to get ran over by the Fur Fucker. The vehicle barreled into the throne room, knocking into several guards. The vehicle began doing donuts around Shirlene, causing a thick smoke cloud to shield her. Once it stopped and the smoke cleared, the heroes stopped to assess the damage.

 

Shirlene stepped over a few bleeding bodies and knelt down to one of a wolf sliced cleanly in half. “Wow kid I’m impressed. This one’s chopped right in half! And you said your little sword couldn’t do that.”

 

“Yea I guess I got a little carried away there . . . But what are we gonna do about Stella? We don’t know where she is!”

 

“Don’t worry kid. I’ll chase after Ton’Ja in the Fur Fucker, and you get Mrs. Kumar back to the C Wing.” Jeeve nodded while slinging the panther over his shoulder. “Alright Ms. K, tell me if I’m going to fast.” The panther nodded meekly, then dug her claws as Jeeve took off with unparalleled speed. Once they were gone, Shirlene got in the F.F. and began pressing a few buttons on her on board computer. “Alright computer, where’s this little weasel heading?”

 

**_**_“THERE ARE THREE VEHICLES HEADING WEST CAPTAIN.”_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

“Ah so this asshole’s gonna go run to town. Gotcha! Computer keep a lock on the convoy and start the ****M.L.R.S**** protocol.”

 

**_**_“YES CAPTAIN. RUNNING THE_ ** _ ** **_ **_MULTIPLE LAUNCH ROCKET SYSTEM_ ** _ ** **_**** _ ** **_**_PROTOCAL NOW.”_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

“Excellent. Run while you can Ton’Ja, because when I find you . . . It’s over.” Shirlene revved up the four wheeler’s engines and drove out the throne room. According to her computer, Ton’Ja and his convoy hadn’t even made it off castle grounds yet. She rolled through the hallway and ducked as several laser beams flew past her. Turning around, she could see five wolves all in their own hover tanks. “Nice. And here I thought they’d be no challenge. Computer. Get the Fur Fucker’s guns online.”

 

**_**_“YES CAPTAIN. RUNNING ‘_ ** _ ** **_ **_FUR FUCKER_ ** _ ** **_**_’S’ COUNTER BALLISTIC PROTOCOL NOW.”_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

Shirlene watched excitedly as the F.F’s turret came to life, immediately aiming for the wolves behind her. “Take the wheel computer, I’m gonna fuck these wolves up.” Shirlene brought the scope down over her eyes and took aim. The hover tanks may have had better maneuverability than the F.F, but they weren’t faster. Shirlene aimed for the one in the middle and took fire. The laser beams shot out of the turret like those of a machine gun, spraying every which way. Several beams hit the wolf in the middle instantly killing him, causing his tank to veer off into the one on his left. Both tanks began pushing against one another, before they lost control and crashed. The other tanks continued firing at her, causing her yell at the computer.

 

“DAMN COMPUTER! How long does it take to launch a fucking rocket! I can literally see them getting away!”

 

**_**_“CHECK YOU SIX CAPTAIN.”_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

Shirlene turned around and indeed saw a rocket hurtling for its target. Ton’Ja and his convoy looked up and began scrambling to get out of the rocket’s way. The rocket touched down between the three vehicles and completely blew them away. Shirlene smiled and laughed at the huge dust cloud her rocket created. She turned around and saw another rocket hurtling for the tanks behind her. The projectile slammed into a tank, instantly engulfing it and the other tanks in flames. Shirlene drove on to Ton’Ja’s wreckage, looking for the wolf herself.

 

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” On the ground, crawling from under his overturned vehicle was Ton’Ja. He looked at Shirlene and whimpered in fright as she came closer. Shirlene pulled out her gun and began playing with it

 

“Say T Dog. Do you remember me? I’m guessing by your blank expression that you don’t so I’ll fill you in real quick. I used to be a slave here on Lauren, property of the Queen. I remember you very vividly . . . You were especially nasty to my family. You made our lives miserable, so miserable in fact that I had to leave.” Shirlene bent down toward the scared wolf and said “As you can see by my heartfelt revelation . . . ****I hate slavery.**** So before I kill you, I’ll give you this final chance to tell me where Kumar’s daughter is.”

 

Ton’Ja nodded his head quickly and said “I sold her okay! The queen wanted new servants, and she offered me something I couldn’t refuse . . . __Credits!”__

 

“You miserable piece of shit! Now I have to go kill the queen too?!”

 

“Please mercenary! Have mercy on me! I-I W-Will Change! I’ll let the others go, I’ll relinquish my land, disband the Red Tails, just don’t take my life!” Shirlene sighed and said “Oh what is a rabbit to do? Do I take the miserable wretch’s life? Or do I show compassion and mercy?” Shirlene turned around to face the pleading wolf and smiled. “Everyone deserves a second chance . . . And if you’re really willing to change, then I’ll give it to you.” Ton’Ja nodded his head with vigor and said “Yes oh Yes! Thank you kind warrior! For I wi-” Ton’Ja’s words were cut short as Shirlene fired a bullet right between his eyes. The wolf uttered no more and fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. “Well almost everyone deserves a second chance . . .” Shirlene made her way over to him and began dragging his body from under the rubble. She smirked as she saw his concealed weapon under his stomach. “Once a bastard always a bastard.”

 

Shirlene walked over to the Fur Fucker and said “Computer please call the C Wing. I need to see how the kid’s holdin’ up.”

 

**_**_“CALLING ‘C WING’ CAPTAIN.”_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

Shirlene waited patiently as the connection tried to patch through, though once it did she was greeted with a pretty amusing sight. Jeeve was trying his damnest to pry Mrs. Kumar from his person. “Oh hey Shirlene! How’d the chase go?”

 

“Pretty good kid. Got the information I needed and tied a few loose ends as well.”

 

“That’s great! So where’s Stella?”

 

“She’s a slave for the queen now . . . I’m sorry Mrs. Kumar.” The panther’s grip slackened on Jeeve as she slid to the floor crying. Jeeve instantly picked her up and began cradling her small form. “Well what now Shirlene?”

 

“Well what do you think?! We’re gonna go to the queen and demand she give us Stella back and if she doesn’t I’ll kill her too.”

 

“Wait you killed the wolf guy?”

 

“Well if was either him or me so . . . Yea I killed him.”

 

“ . . .”

 

“Don’t look so shocked! You sliced like 20 wolves in half so if anyone’s a cold blooded killer it’s you.”

 

“Don’t make me feel bad about it!”

 

“Anyway We need to go pay the queen a visit. I’m gonna launch a flare to my location, I want you to run to it and join me in the Fur Fucker.”

 

“Alright sounds like a plan! I’m gonna go put Mrs. Kumar to sleep and I’ll dash on over to you.”

 

“Don’t keep me waiting kid.”

 

A few minutes passed and on the horizon was a speedy Jeeve, tearing up sand as he dashed towards Shirlene. “Took you long enough kid!”

 

“Sorry! You try prying a frightened panther off you.”

 

“Hop in! We’re going straight for the Castle’s gates.”

 

“This plan is filled with holes. Are you sure we can just __ram__ the castle like this? It doesn’t seem wise. Maybe we can reason with her!”

 

“Jeeve listen to yourself! She’s a fucking slave owner! Besides predators only respond to shows of force. Once I bust her castle gates down, she’ll be bowing at my feet.” Jeeve shook his head and sighed “Well if you say so.” Shirlene smiled at his submissive nature and revved the engine. The Fur Fucker began spitting up sand as it stalled in place, before Shirlene threw it in gear and sent the four wheeler racing towards the castle.

 

The duo raced through the city, dashing ever closer to the castle.Once the castle was in range, Shirlene pressed a few buttons on the F.F.’s computer causing the vehicle to jerk and tilt.

 

“Hey Shirlene! What was that?!”

 

“Just readied this baby to launch a missile towards the castle’s entrance.”

 

Jeeve opened his mouth to protest, but again was silenced by a medium sized projectile hurtling from the vehicle’s undercarriage. Shirlene chased after the missile, and rejoiced as it plowed through the castle’s doors. Shirlene smiled and rammed through the entrance, causing several guards and officials to scramble to get out of her way. She made a sharp turn and sent the F.F bursting through the throne room. Once inside, the vehicle began doing donuts around the room. Shirlene killed the engines and leapt with Jeeve from the spinning vehicle right in front of the queen.

 

“Hey Queen Tokota! Long time no see! It’s me Shirlene Yara! You probably don’t remember me, but I was farmer 5542!” Queen Takota was a stern looking fox. She was robed in a purple dashiki, and was wearing a large decorative crown made from wood, grass, and straw. She took in the destruction of her throne room and replied nonchalantly “That serial number sounds familiar . . . Though what has brought you barreling through my throne room?”

 

“You have something or rather __someone__ who does not belong to you. Ton’Ja sold you a Stella Kumar even though she was no slave. I’m here to let you know that Mr. Kumar wants his daughter back.”

 

“All sales are final by Alterian law. I do not have to return anyone. In fact after we’re done here, I’m going to make you both slaves to the crown.” Shirlene’s calm demeanor was replaced with one of rage leaving her to reply “Look here you stupid bitch! I’ve had it up to here with this ass backward kingdom, now you’re gonna let that girl go or I swear to all that is holy, that I’ll blow this castle sky high.”

 

“My aren’t you a suicidal rabbit . . . Wait a minute! You must be the pilot that escaped the ARK Tower’s gaze! What manner of magic has protected you thus far?”

 

“Not magic! I’m just a certified badass, and please don’t think I won’t fire upon royal grounds. Me and my pal here have already wiped out the Red Tail clan. You know I was actually surprised, they were really scary when I was a kid, but all it took was two missiles and an alien from another world to wipe em’ out.”

 

“You . . . Destroyed the entire Red Tail Clan?!”

 

“Well there’s probably a few stragglers that are gonna come back from patrol to an empty castle and dead ruler, but other than that I pretty much trashed them.” Queen Takota stopped talking and instead took to thinking about her current situation. Once she came to a conclusion she said “You there. Young alien! I notice you possess a weapon of the patriarchs. Are you in fact a patriarch?” Jeeve looked to Shirlene for an explanation, but she just shrugged her shoulders instead.

 

“Well I don’t know if I’m a patriarch, but I do know that I here to do the right thing!”

 

“Spoken like a true patriarch, I tell you what. If you do something for me, then I will release the panther you seek.”

 

“Wow really!? You hear that Shirlene?! She’ll let Stella go if we do something for her!”

 

“Yea I heard, but tell me Takota. What do you want us to do?”

 

The fox queen’s countenace fell and was replaced with a sad, longing face. “I want you to bring back the water . . .” Jeeve scratched his head in confusion, while Shirlene said “Welp Jeeve we tried! Let’s leave this place and tell Kumar that his daughter fell in a ditch or something.”

 

“Wait why are we leaving? Allwe have to do is bring back the water right? Sounds easy enough!”

 

“Kid. This nutjob’s talking about bringing back THE FUCKING OCEAN!”

 

“ . . .”

 

“Yea. My thoughts exactly. Listen here Jeeve, the ocean’s been gone since before I was born! No manner of missiles, rockets, or magical swords is gonna bring that back.”

 

“Well can we at least try?! What do you have to lose by trying?”

 

“Well my dignity, my time, my self esteem . . . My lunch.”

 

“Aww come on! Can we please try!”

 

“Oh I seriously cant say no to you can I? Fine kid, if you wanna experience the impossible firsthand, then we can do that!”

 

The vixen queen ran down from her thron and threw herself at Jeeve’s feet crying “Thank you oh mysterious one! I pray for your success!” Shirlene made a gagging noise and said “Alright! Alright! Break it up! I’m not gonna subject my pure and innocent kid to such disgusting displays of affection. You can thank him, if he actually does it.” Shirlene took his hand and drug him back to the Fur Fucker, grumbling and fuming all the way. Once inside the vehicle, she started it up and sent it rolling out the throne room.

 

Jeeve stared at Shirlene with a scrutinous gaze and said “Why do you think we can’t bring the ocean back?”

 

“Kid answer this for me . . . Did you deal with the impossible back in your world?”

 

“Well no actually. I couldn’t even jump two feet off the ground, let alone 20!”

 

“So why do __you__ think we can do this?!”

 

“Well . . . I don’t know! I guess I’m being a little cocky after wiping out an entire gang. Though I’m surprised you’re not more confident about this.”

 

“I can deal with a lot of things, including inter-dimensional, sword wielding aliens, but I can’t deal with the impossible! She wants us to bring back 326 million cubic miles of H2O! That’s just not possible!”

 

“Shirl.”

 

“ _ _Shirl?__ What is that, some kind of nickname?”

 

“Well I-I though it was appropriate! Anyway you trust me to block the ARK Tower’s beams right?”

 

“Hell yea I do!”

 

“Well trust in __us__ to bring the water back.” Shirlene smiled and said “I told you my body can’t handle all this sappy, feely stuff!”

 

Jeeve just smiled back as she continued driving. The duo drove what looked like an abandoned beach. There was beach sand alright, but no water anywhere! Jeeve kept looking around as Shirlene drove on through the dried out ocean floor. Shirlene drove for another 20 minutes before stopping in front of a gigantic hole in the ground. She stepped out the Fur Fucker and calmly walked over to it saying “This is where it went.”

 

“Where what went?”

 

“The water. Many years ago, it just disappeared. No one knows how or why, but all we do know is that it drained down that hole.”

 

“Well okay then let’s get the C Wing and fly down there or something!”

 

“Nope that ain’t happening”

 

“Well do you got a cool hover car or something?”

 

“I’m not going with you pal.”

 

“WHAT?! WHY NOT!?”

 

“Someone’s gotta stay up top and keep the comms open. You’ll be alone on this one pal.”

 

“Why?!”

 

“You wanted to save the water, so now you gotta go save it!”

 

Jeeve looked at the hole and began shaking. He had a serious phobia of heights, even riding on the C Wing made him a little jittery and now he had to jump down into a hole probably thousands of feet deep.

 

“Oh and here kid.” Shirlene threw him a wonky looking wrist communicator saying “I made this extra wrist comm from some of your weird alien tech.

 

“Wait!? You stole my phone?!”

 

“Was it a small rectangle made of glass?”

 

“YES!!”

 

“Then yes I took it.”

 

“I can’t believe you! Did you take my laptop too?!”

 

“Was that the larger rectangle that opened up like a clam?”

 

“ . . . Yes.”

 

“Then yes I took that too, though don’t worry. You’ll get it back!”

 

Jeeve sighed and turned back towards the gaping hole. “So what? Do I just . . . __take a leap of faith?__ ” Shirlene walked up while snickering at his joke replying “Yea kid, make sure you have a __nice fall!”__ With her joke told, she pushed the hero over the edge and sent him plummeting down the hole. Shirlene looked back at the Fur Fucker and ducked as Ethos flew from the vehicle and went flying down the hole.

 

“Well I’ll be!”

 

****20 MINUTES LATER** **

 

Jeeve’s eye’s slowly opened as he stood shakily to his feet. He scanned his surroundings and winced as a small stream of light poured in from the surface. Jeeve rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “Can’t believe she pushed me off a cliff!” Jeeve reached down and grabbed his trusty sword and put him on his back. He couldn’t exactly explain how it worked, but Ethos kind of stuck to his back when he wasn’t using him. At first it was weird, but th3e more the sword clung to him, the more he got used to it.

 

Jeeve looked around the underground cavern and cringed. He had hoped he wouldn’t have to venture underground for awhile, but it looked like it couldn’t be helped. A sudden beeping noise alerted him, and he rushed to answer an incoming call from Shirlene. “Hey Shirl! How’s life on the surface?”

 

“Oh you know . . . complete ass. How’s the spelunking going?”

 

“Could be better. I don’t exactly know where to go. There’s like three different paths to choose.”

 

“OOOHH! I’m good at these! Take the one on the left . . .”

 

“I’m sorry Shirl? I didn’t quite hear that part.”

 

“Open your ears kid! I said take the one on the left it will lead to good fortune!”

 

Jeeve plunged a finger in his ears in hopes of unclogging whatever issue was plaguing them, but to none avail. He strained his ears again to listen to her, but instead heard a faint crying noise. “Say Shirl I’ll call you back. I think someone’s down here.” Shirlene began lividly screaming and shouting at him to not end the call, but he did anyway. It was if the soft crying had put him under some spell.

 

The young hero went from a brisk walk to a full sprint, running as if his life depended on the animal’s well being. He ran past several puddles of sea water, not even taking note as he searched. The more he ran, the louder the crying became. As he ran, his eyes became glazed over with a hazy green film. It seemed as if he wasn’t even controlling his movements anymore. Jeeve ran down another corridor into an underwater lake. Not even fazed by it, he ran straight across it to the other side, splashing water all the way.

 

He ran into another large cave where the sound was its loudest, then suddenly stopped. He desperately looked around, searching for the noise, but just as it mysteriously appeared, it left. Jeeve’s eye’s refocused and returned to the normal shade of green they were. “Wha? What happened?” Jeeve stumbled around as he explored the large, open cavern. __“You came. I’m quite honestly surprised.”__ Jeeve quickly took a fighting stance as he looked for the source of the voice. The voice was gravelly and definitively aged.

 

“Uh Who’s there! Come out with your hands up!”

 

 _ _“That my friend is an impossibility for you see . . . I do not have hands.”__ The source of the voice revealed itself and Jeeve dropped Ethos in fright. “Y-Y-You’re a __GIANT WORM?!”__ And indeed it was. The giant worm crawled out of the shadows and smiled at Jeeve. __Sorry for scaring you young patriarch, but I have waited many years to meet you.”__

__

“You have? But how do you even know what I am?”

 

__“Oh please! You think you are the first human patriarch? Your grandfather was quite formidable. You look just like he did when we first met. Wide eyed and curious.”_ _

__

Jeeve’s mouth hung open in awe. It seemed not a day went by where Alteria didn’t blow his little mind straight open. “Wait so let me get this straight. My grandpa was a sword wielding dude like me too? And he lived here? That’s physically impossible! I remember seeing him when I was a kid! He was an old man that fed pigeons in the park! He rolled marbles on Sunday, and mowed the lawn on Tuesday. He died when I was 13!”

 

__“There is much about your family lineage that you do not know. The man you are referring to was not your grandfather. Just like you he too left Earth on his 18_ _ _ _h_ _ __birthday.”_ _

__

“Let me guess . . . Some crazy messenger brought him here on a freaking fake train!?”

 

__“Ah you must be referring to Nigel! He was one for tricks back in the day, but I haven’t seen him in years. The last time we spoke was one conversation I will never forget.”_ _

__

“What happened?”

 

__“We fought. I pleaded with him to find the next patriarch, but he denied me citing the ‘end of the world’ was nigh and there was nothing a sword wielding warrior from long ago could do about it.”_ _

__

“Are you sure this is the same dude I spoke to. Like the guy I talked to was pretty charismatic, your Nigel sounds pretty depressing.”

 

__“Yes it’s true. After your grandfather’s demise, the rest of the patriarchs parted ways. It was deemed best that we stop all communications for fear of being found, but in the end it really didn’t matter.”_ _

__

“Why pal? What happened?”

 

__“Kyoto Kydon is what happened. I apologize young one. Am I boring you? This next part can be a little dense.”_ _

__

“No! Don’t stop! It was getting so good!”

 

__“Ha! Very well child. Kyoto was a bright young student at the Patriarchal training academy. He had large amounts of potential, but he also had a very serious fascination with the Matriarchs. Dangerous female warriors, who were the only ones who could match a patriarch in strength and power.”_ _

__

“Wait I just thought about it . . . Patriarchs are like males and matriarchs are females so this whole things was a __gender war?__ ”

 

__“Oh no you misunderstand! Patriarchs are protectors! Membership was not locked to males only! There were thousands of patriarchs who were females and vice versa for the matriarchs. It all came down to beliefs and principles. The matriarchs wanted anarchy and chaos to rule the land and we wanted peace and prosperity. So we fought.”_ _

__

“What happened to Kyoto after you rejected him? I’m guessing he was a typical arch villain and ran over to the bad guys side to join with them right?”

 

__“Oh no. He found a fate much worse at the Matriarchal side. Once we rejected him, he did run over to them and plead to join. He went on about his abilities and his commitment to seeing the patriarchs destroyed! The matriarchs took him in and led him to the initiation grounds. It was supposed to be a simple ritual . . . Just drink from the chalice of holiness, but . . . they tricked him. They beat him for being disillusioned and having no honor. Once they were done, they left him for dead. Some other patriarchs had followed him and found him, quickly ushering him to a hospital. We had healed his wounds, but not his heart. Once he was healed, he vowed vengeance on the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.”_ _

__

“Wow that’s real deep . . . But if there were thousands of patriarchs and matriarchs, how did one wolf get rid of them all?”

 

__“Oh it wasn’t one wolf. Kyoto left abandoned his teachings and took to politics and technology. Over the years he rallied the support of the common people, turning them against us. Saying that heroes with gift like ours were likely to turn against the people and take over Alteria. We thought nothing of it and continued on with our way, but heaven were we wrong. Laws were actually passed against us, citing our use of our powers as illegal.”_ _

__

“No way! He actually got the government to do that?!”

__

__“Yes and it only got worse. More and more laws were passed, taking away our weapons, land , and monasteries. We were losing a war and nobody had laid a paw on us.”_ _

__

“Well how did the Matriarchs handle this? I’m sure they were pissed.”

__“Right you are young one. The matriarchs, as expected, took up arms and fought the government and law at every turn. Kyoto knew this and used this as a political ploy to bunch Patriarchs and Matriarchs in the same group. Once we had the same label, it was so easy to destroy the Patriarchs for we are pacifists by nature. Though everything simmered down for awhile and it seemed like this phase would pass . . . Though we were so wrong. One day while at the monastery, several wounded matriarchs barged in, pleading for help. We took them in and tended to their wounds, while they told us of our impending doom.”_ _

__

“Your impending doom? What did Kyoto do? Unleash a super powerful mega destructoid wave upon you guys?!”

 

__“No my child it was much worse. He had been developing a laser beam that we arch warriors could not see. He had tested it on the Matriarch’s capital and the results were devastating . . . Out of the thousands of Matriarchs there . . . only a handful survived. Four came to us and the other 20 or so fled to edges of Alteria. Though it was not like we were any safer. Kyoto and his military force came to our monastery and destroyed everything and everyone . . . I was already here in the Lauri Sea relaxing when Nigel came to me frightened. He relayed everything to me, pleading for me to go into hiding. I complied willingly and besides the last visit with Nigel, I have remained in exile.”_ _

__

Jeeve sat on the floor in shock. Never before had he heard a story so . . . __Emotionally taxing__.

 

“So are there any other __Arch heroes__ out there?”

 

__“Besides you, Nigel, and I . . . I can’t be certain. Well no there is that Wolvern matriarch with the Jericho weapon. She came by here months ago, searching for the water as well.”_ _

__

Suddenly Jeeve sprang up and screamed “THE WATER! I TOTALLY FORGOT!”

 

__“Yes you seek the sea of Lauri as well?”_ _

__

“Well yea we need to free someone’s daughter from Queen Takota. She wants the water back for the girl.”

 

__“Hmm . . . I could give it back to you but the question becomes . . . Why would I?”_ _

__

“I don’t know? So the water can come back?! Like is that even a question?! Why are you even holding the water in the first place!!”

 

The old worm seemed to be in thought, before saying __“I took it from Kyoto when he had an aquatic base here. The base siphon the water through large pipes and use it as a high pressure weapon. Once the water was gone, the base fell to the bottom of the ocean floor, lost to time and the hollow cavernous depths.”__

__

“Okay so now that he’s gone you can . . .Well I don’t know . . . MAYBE RETURN THE WATER?!”

 

__“Well it’s not that simple. How am I supposed to ensure that the water will not be used as a weapon again?”_ _

__

“Look you can’t alright! Not alone anyway. I’ll do my part as a patriarch to protect this natural resource as well. But you can’t just withhold the water from the people like an angry child. Like forget about the queen and Kyoto for a second . . . There are animals out there, suffering because of your fear! Now that’s not fair and right now, from whrer I’m standing . . . It looks like Kyoto’s bogus claims about patriarchs are true.”

 

 _ _“ . . . ‘Gods with no purpose.’ ‘Doing the animals more harm than good . . .’ You are right young one . . . I shouldn’t be taking my anger and frustrations out on the people.”__ The worm curled in on itself, forming a tightly wound ball. The worm ball began glowing a bright white and a small blue orb, the size of a marble popped out. Jeeve quickly caught it and listened as the worm explained it. “ _ _That in your hands is all of the Lauren Kingdon’s water. I’m going to break the seal and release it back to where it belongs.”__

__

“Nice going Tyloc! I knew you’d do the right thing!”

 

__‘Ahh so you’ve heard of me!”_ _

__

“I have? Wait?! I have! You were that giant worm in my grandfather’s old journal!”

 

__“Your grandfather had a knack for studying the world around him . . . That journal was his gift to you. Hold on to it, Cherish it with all your heart!”_ _

__

“But wait I’m still in the dark. What happened to him? You never mentioned him.” Tyloc sighed deeply saying __“Seek out Nigel, if you want the rest of the tale. He is the keeper of our history and soon you will be too. Now hurry there isn’t much time! I feel a presence I haven’t felt in a while.”__

__

“What do you feel?”

 

__“Jericho . . .”_ _

__

Jeeve gulped audibly and took the hint. “Well now what?”

 

 _ _“Hop onto my back child. Once the seal is broken, the water will quickly retake this cavern and all its orifices!”__ Jeeve nodded and leapt upon the great worm, clinging on best as he could to his slick, slimy skin. Tyloc whispered a prayer to the orb, then without warning slid off at light speed. Jeeve surmised that worm had to at least be sliding at the speed of sound because he could literally see his screams of terror trying catch up with them. He could also see the water trying to seemingly drown them. Everywhere Tyloc slid, the water followed, filling up the cavern in the process.

 

Tyloc slid back to where Jeeve had fallen and suddenly stopped. Jeeve dizzily looked around only to be smacked with his own screams from earlier. “Why are we stopped Tyloc!? The Water’s coming!”

 

 _ _“We need the water to rise to the surface child! Hold on tight young one!”__ Jeeve braced against the patriarch and yelled again as the water rushed and sent the patriarchs surging for the surface. Tyloc and Jeeve shot straight into the air and out onto the surface, making a splash as the water returned to it’s normal levels. Jeeve sat atop Tyloc’s head completely disheveled in appearance. Jeeve looked across the ocean towards the shore and saw his bunny companion waving at him. Tyloc brought Jeeve to shore and let him jump off to his friend.

 

“Jeeve! You little scoundrel! I thought you drowned or some shit!” The rabbit said while enveloping the hero in a hug.

 

“Well I didn’t and I had a little help from a friend.”

 

“Well where’s he at?”

 

“He’s right here!” Jeeve turned around to show Tyloc to Shirlene and gasped as the gigantic worm was nowhere to be seen. “BUT HE WAS RIGHT HERE! I swear it to you!”

 

“I don’t care how you got here! I’m just glad you’re safe!”

 

“Aww __you care about me!”__ Shirlene quickly pushed the hero away saying “Oh ho don’t play that game with me! I’m just glad you’re alright because you’re such a valuable asset to my operations. Don’t get all lovey dovey on me now!” Jeeve shrugged his shoulders and followed Shirlene back to the Fur Fucker. As they walked away he turned around and saw Tyloc winking back at him. Jeeve smiled and waved back as the worm patriarch dove back under the water.

 

****30 MINUTES LATER: QUEEN TAKOTA’S CASTLE** **

 

 

“How on Alteria did you two restore the ocean?!”

 

“What can I say? We’re professionals ma’am.” Shirlene replied calmly, while filing her nails.

 

“But the __entire ocean?!”__

__

“What!? Did you think we would fail? I mean we couldn’t let you down, especially after you grovelled to us commoners.”

 

“Y-Y you are no commoner! You’re Alteria’s savior!” Shirlene and Jeeve exchanged amused glances, before Jeeve stepped forward saying. “Your majesty. If it pleases the crown, we would like Ms. Stella Kumar to be released unto our custody.”

 

“Yes, yes of course! Guards! Go and fetch Ms. Kumar from the slave quarters.” The fox guards bowed respectfully, the dashed out the throne room to retrieve Stella. When they returned, the teenage panther ran straight for Shirlene and Jeeve, latching onto them with dear life. Takota watched the display, then interjected saying “Oh and before you go. I want to bestow upon you some royal commendations.” Shirlene smiled widely and stepped before the queen, kneeling appropriately. Jeeve followed suit and knelt as well, leaving Takota to bestow the awards.

 

“For your unparalled bravery and heroism, I bestow upon you Shirlene Yara, the medal of valor!” Takota stepped forward to Shirlene and draped the medal across her neck. “Rise my hero. Rise and face the uncertainty of tomorrow!” Shirlene rose and took a step back. Takota turned to Jeeve and smiled. “For answering the pleas of the animals and fighting back against the principalities of evil, I bestow upon you the royal scepter of her majesty Tokota!” The vixen queen knelt in front of Jeeve and left her scepter at his feet. “Rise hero! Rise and face the evils of yesterday! Do what your forefathers could not and vanquish the scourge of Alteria!” Jeeve grabbed the scepter and rose to his feet.

 

“Now go my heroes. Princess Kira and her convoy have just arrived and I rather you two bee out of my kingdom when I tell her of your good deeds.” The duo nodded understandingly and drove off with Stella back to the C Wing.

 

****2 HOURS LATER: ABOVE REGIAN WATERS** **

 

__

“How can I ever repay you Captain?!”

 

“Well my money would be a start, and also not getting your family in deep water too!”

 

“Already forwarded the credits to your account Captain and I from this moment on, I’m retiring to the Southern Isles of Creze. Again I’m very thankful for this.”

 

“Yea Yea! I get it, just get outta here and make up the lost time with your wife and kid.” Mr. Kumar nodded excitedly and went back aboard his ship, leaving his wife and daughter to bid their thanks and farewells. Scarlet Kumar stepped forward and said “As my husband said, we can’t ever thank you enough for this. I thought I’d never see my family again, but you saved us.”

 

Shirlene rocked on the balls of her paws saying “Don’t give me all the praise. This here’s the animal who brought the Lauren ocean back for your daughter’s release. I just killed some wolves. So overall a pretty great day.” Scarlet smiled while enveloping both heroes in a hug. She smiled once more and quickly scurried aboard her husband’s ship, just leaving Stella to say her piece.

 

The teenage panther shuffled nervously toward the duo and whispered to Shirlene saying __“Thanks for saving me and stuff, it was pretty cool how you brought the ocean back and stuff . . .”__ Stella looked over at Jeeve with apprehension, then quickly place a kiss on his cheek. Jeeve watched in awe as the coy panther smiled and waltzed away sensuously.

 

“You know her dad’s rich kid. I think you’d two make one hell of a couple.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

****QUEEN TAKOTA’S CASTLE** **

 

 

Queen Takota sat stiffly as Princess Kira interrogated her about today’s events. “So Takota, tell me again __how the ocean returned again?”__  

 

“I told you Kira! The heroes of Alteria returned it!”

 

“Ah so you’re referring to the deranged rabbit and other worldly creature then. I wouldn’t go as far as to call them heroes, but I will say they are very brave. But you know this offense will not go unpunished.”

 

“What offense?”

 

“Harboring fugitives in your Kingdom is an offense punishable by death. You did not turn them over to the authorities and instead opted to utilize them for your gain. Once my father finds out about this . . . We’ll let’s just say there will be no heroes to save you then.”

 

“You are a weak monarch Kira. You throw your father’s name around like it’s yours. I fought alongside your father during the Patriarchal overthrow. I was there right with him and knew him personally. I can tell you aspire to be like him, but dishonoring his name will get you no where.”

 

Kira growled with warning and replied “Tell me where they have fled or I swear you will reap the consequences.”

 

“Maybe you have forgotten who’s kingdom you are in, but I am ruler here not you __princess!__ I will deal with whatever repercussions when the time comes, but I will not be disrespected in my own kingdom! You need to leave now or I will have my royal guards ****escort**** you off of castle grounds.”

 

Kira looked torn, but remained firmly in place leaving Takota to continue “And if you will not leave willingly, then maybe you can explain this political mishap to your father. I’m positive he wants to deal with war declarations from his neighbors.”

 

“WAR DECLARATIONS?!”

 

“What did you think young one? Threatening a monarch is a sign of war around the world. If you tell your father __‘how I helped the infidels’__ then I will tell him of how you threatened my animals. So I’ll give you another chance to leave without any further incidents.”

 

Kira grumbled under her breath and began walking out of the throne room. “Oh and Kira! Do not fret. You and all of Alteria will know of the heroes exploits come tomorrow morning!”

 

 

 

 


End file.
